Forsaken
by kanashii yurei
Summary: readers do be warned. this one is an EPIC! hahas. erms well this is about a gal in the age of legends. practically everyone around her becomes forsaken, including the man she loves! yepp. the end is in sight![complete]
1. To be Aes Sedai

Part I -- Initiation

**Chapter 1: To Be Aes Sedai**

Joar Addam Nessosin stood in line, waiting for his turn to test. He watched the shut door apprehensively. When the man came out, only three more would test before it would be his turn. He was eighteen, younger than most of the other men in line.

His eyes drifted to the second queue outside the testing room for women and rested on Kiara Eronaile, two years his junior, and next in line. Her pretty face was set in a mask of determination. Her streith gown was silvery green, and her hands were fisted tightly on her wide pleated skirts. For some reason she was feeling envy.

For a moment Joar Addam forgot all about testing for the ability to channel. His eyes were full of Kiara, who had moved into the house next to his with her family not a week ago. She was a short, slender woman with flowing dark hair and fair skin. In the time span of two days she had proved her quick, fiery temper to everyone in Shorelle. Twice that day she had snapped his nose off for getting in her way.

Several other young men had tried to gain favour with her since her arrival. She either ignored them or passed scathing remarks, much to Joar Addam's relief. Kiara could channel, everybody knew that. What was left to be determined was whether she was strong enough to become Aes Sedai.

The door to the women's testing room open, and a girl of no more than fifteen years emerged looking crestfallen. The sun-haired Aes Sedai tester came out after her, ageless face serene. Her blue eyes fell on Kiara, and her breath caught.

"Come here, child," the Aes Sedai said once she had recovered. Kiara's calm shattered as excitement crept over her. "You have the potential to be one of the strongest channelers this Age has to offer, child," the Aes Sedai went on, "and you will go to Paaran Disen to train. You will be contacted about this later."

Kiara's eyes widened. Then a slow smile spread over her face. She forced it back into a neutral expression, though the green faded from her dress to be replaced by rich gold. "Thank you, Aes Sedai." She left the waiting room, trying to keep her steps slow and measured.

_She will be Aes Sedai,_ Joar Addam thought. He already had the coveted third name at a young age because of his talent with music, but to be Aes Sedai … that was another thing altogether. He barely noticed the next man enter the testing room.

An hour later, Joar Addam emerged from the testing room feeling excited and nervous at the same time. It had only taken ten minutes. He would go to Paaran Disen as well. He left the Shorelle branch of the Hall of Servants and went home.

Kiara was sitting on the grass under the chora tree in her garden when Joar Addam Nessosin, that dratted musician neighbour of hers, appeared around the corner with a pensive expression on his face.

Her streith gown became gold accentuated with light orange, as well as nearly transparent. Blushing, she concentrated and managed to turn it silvery-white and as opaque as anything could be.

Joar Addam smiled and waved as he passed. Kiara had to clench her teeth to stop herself from smiling back. She struggled to keep her dress the way it was. Even so, it gained a slight red-gold sheen.

"Are you going to Paaran Disen?" the question was out of her mouth before she could bite her tongue.

Joar Addam's smile widened. Only being under a chora tree stopped her from committing an act of moderate violence. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am," he replied. Why did her heart leap like that?

Kiara sighed and leaned her head against the trunk of the chora tree. "Want to wager on who will be raised full Aes Sedai first?" she asked.

"Against someone with the potential to be one of the strongest channelers this Age has to offer?" he shot back. "I don't think so."

She did smile, this time. The gold in her dress became more pronounced. "You already have your third name," she said. "You can't be afraid of a little nobody like me."

"Afraid?" Joar Addam echoed with amusement. "Not afraid. Just confident I your abilities."

Kiara's smile vanished and she arched an eyebrow. Strands of black appeared in the streith. "What is that supposed to mean?" she said suspiciously. More black appeared. A little red, too.

Joar Addam glanced at her dress warily. "I meant no offence," he clarified quickly. "It was a compliment."

Kiara regarded him for a moment or two before letting the red and black fade from the fabric of her dress. Then she let her guard down altogether and sprung to her feet, smiling widely. "I'm going to be Aes Sedai!" she proclaimed cheerfully.

Joar Addam laughed, "So am I, Kiara. So am I."

That night, snatches of a tune played on the harp drew Kiara out of her house. It had been going on for some time, but she had just noticed it because her family had been fussing over her all night. She wore a white _algode_ nightgown with a pale blue silk robe thrown casually over it to ward off the night chill.

Joar Addam sat on a bench in his garden, fingers gracefully plucking the strings of his harp. She crossed her own garden, bare feet making no sound as they padded over the grass, to the fence dividing the two houses. She leaned on the fence and watched Joar Addam, who had his back to her. She did not know the tune, but it was so beautiful that she did not quite have the heart to interrupt. One of his own compositions, perhaps.

A few minutes passed, and the playing stopped abruptly. Joar Addam placed the harp beside him on the bench. He looked up at the full moon, its light illuminating his handsome features, making every strand of his dark hair appear to glow silver.

"I see why you have a third name," Kiara broke the silence.

Joar Addam turned his head to look at her. "It was nothing," he said.

"Will you teach me to play the harp?" she asked in a stroke of daring. She was thankful that the relative darkness hid the blush that followed.

"I can try," he replied.

Kiara drew on the Power tentatively, using half-formed weaves of Air to make a bridge over the fence. She could have used the gate. _Am I trying to impress him? Surely not …_

She sat down on Joar Addam's other side. He lifted the harp and gave it to her, trying to tell her how to hold it. Her breath caught sharply when he reached around her to correct her grip.

A flash of lightning slashed across the sky. Kiara looked up. "I think it's going to—" it began to pour "—rain."

"What luck," Joar Addam muttered dryly as rainwater drenched them both within seconds.

"What luck," Kiara agreed. "Maybe tomorrow. There is plenty of time yet. Perhaps even in Paaran Disen, if there is time." She got up. "Good night, Joar Addam. Sleep well and wake." With a brief smile she turned and fled for the shelter of her own house, clutching her robe tightly around her to cover herself, for the _algode_ of her dress had turned transparent when soaked with water.

Kiara changed out of her wet clothes and went to bed, feeling exhilarated and tired at the same time. Slowly, she drifted off.

She was in a dream. She stood by the bench in Joar Addam's garden. It was a dream, and funnily, she knew it. She jumped when Joar Addam appeared in front of her. "Light!" she hissed. "Where did you appear from?"

"I've been coming here for a while now," he replied calmly. "I think this is _tel'aran'rhoid_, the World of Dreams."

"Oh," Kiara said, realisation dawning on her. Then a wicked smile spread over her face and she said, "Let's take a peek around. We could look in the branch of the Hall of Servants, see what the rest of it is like."

Joar Addam gaped. "Are you mad?" he asked. "There will be Aes Sedai dreamwalkers around."

Kiara looked crestfallen. "I forgot about that. Let's go have a look around the docks then. To see the sho-wings and ships. Do we have to walk, or is there another way?"

Joar Addam shrugged. "There might be, but I don't know it. Let's walk."

She acquiesced and fell into step beside him. For a brief moment her plain silk dress became a barely opaque streith gown with a scandalously low neck, too snug around the hips and bosom. She concentrated on plain silk, and it jumped back. Light, the World of Dreams was tricky. She hoped he had not seen.

The sights seemed to fly past. In what seemed like bare moments, they were at the docks. The sea was visible. There were no waves disturbing its surface. It was just a huge, still body of dark water.

Kiara surged ahead of her companion and ran to the piers, examining the huge cargo carriers. To the airport beyond, where sho-wings of various sizes and designs were parked. She ducked around a particularly large one and crashed right into Joar Addam, who had been coming around the corner. They went down in a heap.

"Ouch," she complained, opening eyes she did not remember squeezing shut. And found herself looking straight into Joar Addam's dark eyes. Her throat constricted into a tight knot. He was right on top of her. She could not breathe.

Joar Addam looked as if he was about to hyperventilate as well. His face crept closer. Kiara tipped her head back slightly and shut her eyes. She felt his lips brush hers. Her eyes snapped open.

Kiara vanished suddenly, and Joar Addam hit the floor painfully. Either she had gotten so upset she stepped out of the dream, or someone had woken her up. Rubbing his bruised ribs, Joar Addam left the World of Dreams.

Kiara woke up to find her mother Kyria shaking her. "Kiara," the greying woman said softly, "you were caught out in the rain tonight. Wake up and have some hot soup before you sleep."

"I was having a good dream, Mother," Kiara murmured. She sat up and took the bowl of soup from Kyria. She sipped from the rim of the bowl. The soup was hot and delicious. She drained the bowl as quickly as she could without scalding her tongue. Kyria smiled, took the bowl and left. Kiara lay back down, wondering if she should go back to _tel'aran'rhoid_ to look for Joar Addam. She decided not to. He had probably left, anyway.

The next morning, the sun-haired Aes Sedai Harlett Karla Moridys, who had tested Kiara, came to collect her and Joar Addam. When she saw him, her cheeks reddened, and she ducked her head to hide it.

During the short jo-car ride to the airport, Kiara stared out of the window and refused to look at Joar Addam. She knew her face would become so red she would die of it if she looked at him.

At the airport, Harlett Sedai hustled the pair of them into a sho-wing already crowded with potential Aes Sedai. They were chased into two available seats next to each other. She channelled Air and took their bags off to the cargo hold.

The sho-wing took off once Harlett Sedai had alighted. "Kiara," Joar Addam said finally, "about what happened last night, I'm sorry if I offended you."

Kiara glanced at him. "I wasn't offended. My mother woke me up for hot soup." She realised that she sounded quite ridiculous, so she laughed. Joar Addam laughed, too. The mood lightened considerably.

"It's a full day to Paaran Disen," he said. "I wonder what there is to do."

"Look out of the window, talk, eat when they give us food, and sleep when night falls. Easy enough," Kiara answered. They laughed again.

They talked about the World of Dreams for a while. Then they got bored. Drawing on _saidar_, Kiara wove Air and tugged at Joar Addam's hair. He did not yet know how to touch the Source, so he tugged hers with his hand instead. Smiling, Kiara channelled again. Joar Addam's eyes widened.

"That was unfair," he declared. "I can't exactly reach yours, can I?"

Kiara laughed. She had eased a whip-thin weave of Air between his bottom and the seat and pinched the former. "I can do worse," she threatened.

"Spare me," he responded amusedly.

A young woman passed on her way to the bathroom. Grinning, Kiara slapped the woman's bottom firmly with Air before hurriedly letting go of the Power. The girl jumped and whipped around. Her eyes fell accusingly on Joar Addam. Her full-armed slap drew eyes from the entire cabin. She glared and walked on.

"Thank you very much," Joar Addam muttered sarcastically as he rubbed his cheek and turned away from wide eyes.

"Oops," Kiara said. "I didn't know she had such a quick temper." She gently took his hand from where it covered the affected cheek and kissed the latter. "Feel better?" she teased.

Night fell after two meals and one afternoon nap. Kiara curled up in her seat. "It's a little cold," she murmured. Joar Addam eyed her for a moment or two before slipping an arm around her shoulders. She shifted a little closer and laid her head on his shoulder. It was a lot warmer.

Joar Addam's hand began to stroke her hair, though she was so sleepy she barely noticed. She fell asleep.


	2. Paaran Disen

**Chapter 2: Paaran Disen**

Gentle shaking woke Kiara from a deep, dreamless sleep. The sho-wing had landed. The sun shone brightly outside. It was morning.

"We're in Paaran Disen," Joar Addam said a little sleepily.

The fifteen channelers from Shorelle were hustled from the sho-wing and into three separate jo-cars. They arrived at the school for Aes Sedai trainees at around noon. The men and women were separated and taken to their respective quarters.

Kiara followed a Da'shain Aiel into a small room with a bed, a dressing table, small dining table with four chairs around it, a wardrobe and an attached bathroom. Her bags lay on the bed and lunch on the table in the form of a covered tray. "Please be in the main ballroom by sunset to attend the welcoming dinner," the motherly Aiel woman said. "The initiates from the other cities and towns should have arrived by then." She curtsied and left.

Joar Addam followed the plainly dressed Aiel man to his room, a simple affair. A bed, a wardrobe, a small dining table with a covered tray on it, and a bathroom attached. His bags waited on the bed. "If it pleases you, the welcoming dinner will take place in the main ballroom at sunset, when all the initiates have arrived. Until then please rest well and enjoy your lunch." With a bow and a polite gesture towards the tray on the table the Aiel backed out of the door and shut it.

When the sun began to set Joar Addam left for the main ballroom dressed in a white silk shirt, red velvet coat with a little gold embroidery and black silk breeches. No lace, though. That would be a little too presumptuous.

He ran into Kiara at the entrance. She had on a silvery-white dress with layered, pleated skirts and a narrow, plunging neckline. An elaborate silver belt emphasised her willowy figure. Her hair hung in four slim braids with silver chains decorated with snowflakes woven into them. A small sapphire set in a gracefully twisted frame of silver hung on a silver chain around her neck.

"Joar Addam," she said with a smile.

"Kiara," he returned the greeting with a matching smile.

A tall, extremely good-looking man dressed in silk and fancloth swaggered around the corner. He flashed a smile at Kiara that made Joar Addam bristle. "Good evening," he said to both of them, though a flicker of his eyes at Joar Addam made clear that the greeting was for Kiara alone, "I am called Eval Ramman."

"Good evening," Kiara replied. "My name is Kiara Eronaile."

"Joar _Addam_ Nessosin," Joar Addam offered his name, placing slight emphasis on his third name.

"Why, what talent to have a third name at such a young age," Eval remarked, managing to sound impressed and mocking at the same time.

"It is nothing, just a slight inclination towards music," Joar Addam answered with frosty politeness.

"A musician," Eval said, a slight sneer in his voice telling what he thought of that. "A musical prodigy, then."

Kiara appeared irritated by the verbal sparring. "Shall we go in, Joar Addam?" she asked. He started and turned away from Eval Ramman, nodding. They entered the ballroom side by side, with Eval a step behind.

They seated themselves and had dinner. After dessert had been finished, Eval Ramman appeared again. "Would you like to dance, Kiara?" he asked, holding a hand out to her. Couples were already out on the dance floor, stepping in time to the music. Eval had given Kiara's name a caressing quality when he said it – Joar Addam did not like it one bit.

"All right," Kiara agreed. Joar Addam bristled. He took a goblet of wine from a Da'shain Aiel carrying a tray of them and sipped, keeping his eyes on Kiara. Eval was making eyes at every pretty woman within sight even while dancing with her. The nerve of the man!

Eval danced the next dance with Kiara, and the next. And the next after that. Joar Addam kept taking wine from the Aiel, not quite aware of how much he was drinking.

He was raising what had to be the ninth goblet to his lips when someone snatched it from him. "You've drunk quite enough," Kiara told him, holding the goblet out of his reach. Her face was rosy, and a thin layer of perspiration coated her forehead. She sipped from his goblet. Her eyes widened and she drained it. "I didn't realise how thirsty I was," she said when she had drunk every drop. "Come on. Let's go for a walk in the gardens."

It was not as if Joar Addam had any choice in the matter. Kiara practically dragged him out of the ballroom. The gardens were far from deserted. Couples and groups of friends explored the lush grounds. Wine and the fact that Kiara had danced so many dances with Eval Ramman made Joar Addam grumpy. He simply stalked along in a stormy silence.

"In the name of the Light, Joar Addam Nessosin," Kiara snapped, "what is wrong with you? You're simmering. And about to explode." She stopped and grabbed his arm to make him stop. She pulled him into the shade of a chora tree. "This should do you good. Talk."

"Eval Ramman," he spat in disgust.

To his surprise, Kiara laughed. "Oh, Joar Addam Nessosin, you fool! Do you think I'm blind? The man is a womaniser and I can see it very well. Do you think I would take up with a man like that? Besides, I already have someone in mind."

That made his bristle more, chora tree or no chora tree. "Who?" he demanded.

"You fool," Kiara repeated. She took his head between her hands and pulled his face down for a kiss. Her arms went around his neck and she stood on her toes. His arms slipped around her waist. They shifted against each other as the kiss deepened and intensified. "I love you," she said against his lips, the words muffled. But he heard them just fine.


	3. Eval's Crime

**Chapter 3: Eval's Crime**

Joar Addam woke up the next morning with his head buzzing and throbbing. He should not have drunk so much wine. He forced himself to walk to the bathroom and wash. It made him feel just a little better.

Three sharp knocks sounded at the door, aggravating his headache. He collapsed on the bed, face and hair damp, and called, "Come in!"

The Aiel who had brought him to his chambers the previous day entered, carrying a stack of freshly laundered clothes. "Your uniform," he said with a gentle, understanding smile. "Lessons will commence in an hour. I will be here to take you to yours when you are ready." He retreated.

Joar Addam made himself look at the clothes the Aiel had brought him. There were three black coats made of thick but finely woven wool, seven white _algode_ shirts and seven pairs of black breeches made of _algode_ treated so that it became thick and tough. He noticed a circle half white, half black, and divided by a sinuous line, embroidered on the coat and bordered in silver to make the black half visible.

Kiara awoke the morning after the ball full of excitement and anticipation. She had barely time to don a shift after her bath when a Da'shain Aiel woman knocked and entered.

"This is the uniform you must wear for lessons," the motherly woman said kindly, handing her a stack of clean clothes. "Your classes will begin in an hour. I will arrive to lead you there a quarter of an hour before, if it pleases you." She dropped a quick curtsy and ducked from the room.

Kiara examined the clothes, thrilled. There were three cream-coloured silk shawls, seven loose white _algode_ blouses and seven full, pale orange, heavy pleated skirts made of fine fibres from the baleen of whales—only a little would be taken from living whales, and all from beached ones. The skirts looked narrow, but when stretched out they allowed enough freedom of movement for running. They would rustle noisily, though. Embroidered in the centre of the shawl was the symbol of the Aes Sedai—a circle half white and half black with the halves divided by a sinuous line. It was bordered in gold to make the white half show more clearly.

The Aiel man returned in three quarters of an hour for Joar Addam, who was already dressed. He was led along a few corridors and shown into his classroom. About thirty men roughly his age sat at the desks. He found an empty seat and sat. His fingers itched. He wished he had his harp.

"Ah, the talented young musician!" a mocking, scathing voice said from behind Joar Addam. Eval Ramman. Joar Addam turned and told the cocky womaniser, very curtly, to leave him alone.

Eval's voice fell to a menacing whisper. "I'd watch the girl if I were you. If I want a woman, I always get her in the end. Always," he threatened.

"Watch yourself," Joar Addam retorted. "Kiara has enough spunk to match any you might have, and more. If she hears you talking about her like that …"

The Aes Sedai instructor entered, and the classroom fell silent. Eval Ramman returned to his seat across the class, scowling. He was obviously unhappy that Joar Addam had gotten the last word in.

Kiara had long since dressed and readied herself when the Aiel woman came for her at the promised time. She was led down a corridor line with classrooms and shown into one near the end. She chose a seat in the second row and sat, arranging her skirts carefully.

A pretty, voluptuous sun-haired girl perhaps a year older than she barrelled into the seat next to hers with the enthusiasm of a little girl. Her blouse was unlaced enough to show a considerable amount of rounded assets.

"Good morning to you," she greeted in a breathy voice. "My name is Samara Tarasind."

"Good morning, Samara," Kiara said with a smile. "I'm Kiara Eronaile."

"Kiara! What a pretty name!" Samara piled the praises on. "You arrived with the musician with the third name, didn't you?"

"Joar Addam?" Kiara answered. "Yes, I did."

Samara giggled. "He is so talented. And a pretty face would not hurt much, either."

Kiara smiled to hide a grimace. "He kisses most wonderfully, too," she said casually. That shut Samara up. At that moment, the Aes Sedai instructor entered the class, and every initiate fell silent.

After class that day, Kiara decided to explore the school. She found a spiralling staircase and scaled it, climbing up and up and up until it opened into a bell tower. She leaned out of one of the narrow windows and saw the roofs of the main buildings below.

"Wonderful view, don't you think?" a somewhat familiar voice asked.

Kiara whirled around to find herself face-to-face with Eval Ramman. "And wonderfully deserted, as well," he continued with a smile.

She channelled Air and pushed him back a step. "Back off."

To her extreme surprise _saidar_ suddenly winked out. There was a barrier between her and the True Source. She strained against it, to no avail. "Did I mention I started channelling long before I came this year? For the past three years, since I was sixteen, I've had an Aes Sedai tutor and had gone through intensive corrective training," he said calmly as invisible weaves of Air held her against the wall.

"Back off," Kiara repeated stubbornly as he approached again. When he did not, she spat in his face. It slid off an invisible shield an inch away from his eye. Her shock lasted long enough for him to grab her chin and pull her mouth towards his.

When Joar Addam left class, a pretty sun-haired girl who called herself Samara had attached herself to him much in the manner of a leech, singing his praises. He remembered seeing Eval Ramman talking with her earlier.

"Would you play a little tune for me?" she asked cajolingly. She suddenly threw all of her weight on his arm and pressed her generous bosom against him. "In one of our chambers, perhaps."

Joar Addam shook her off quickly. A flash of frustration in her eyes alerted him to a plot. Then he thought of Eval Ramman's threat. He seized _saidin_ like the instructor had taught the class to, slamming a shield of Spirit between the girl and _saidar_ while holding her where she stood with Air. He had mastered both techniques with speed that surprised even the Aes Sedai. He applied pressure to the hollows in her shoulders with Air.

"Where is Eval Ramman? What does he want with Kiara?" he asked angrily. When Samara shook her head, he applied more pressure.

"Ow! All right! He said he would use something called Compulsion to make the Eronaile woman want to climb the bell tower. He wanted to follow her. I don't know anything else, I swear!" she blurted as tears filled her eyes.

Joar Addam swore and released the flows holding her. Letting go of the Power, he ran for the stairway that led to the bell tower. The Aiel had pointed it out to him on the way to class that morning.

Kiara flinched away from the kiss Eval Ramman tried to force on her, but he held her head still with flows of Air. All the while she struggled against both the bonds holding her and the shield keeping her from embracing _saidar_.

Eval was doing something else—caressing touches of Air ran down he spine, causing her to shiver involuntarily. Similar caresses were applied to the sides of her neck and around her waist.

Joar Addam burst through the door at the top of the stairway, _saidin_ filling him as he did so. He saw weaves holding Kiara to the wall, a shield between her and the Power, as well as odd caressing touches to her neck, spine and waist. Without thinking he channelled in a way he was sure no one had taught him.

All the weaves Eval Ramman had used on Kiara snapped. He reeled away from Kiara, whom he had been forcibly kissing just a moment before. Goosebumps on Joar Addam's arms told him that the Power was rushing into Kiara.

Kiara fell from the wall and landed in a heap on the floor, but she drew as much of _saidar_ into herself as she dared. She just threw random weaves of Air at Eval Ramman, cudgelling him.

Then one of her weaves was severed. It whipped back at her in a backlash, and she staggered, losing her shaky hold of the Power. Eval and Joar Addam were staring at each other intently. Even though she could not see anything going on, she knew they were throwing _saidin_ at each other.

Joar Addam staggered badly from the backlashes of the weaves Eval Ramman slashed. Then his guard slipped, and a shield slammed between himself and _saidin_. Weaves of Air held him where he stood, like he had held Samara.

Eval continued to slash weaves Joar Addam could not see—he could only assume it was Kiara. Then the fool girl threw herself at Eval's back. A massive weave of Air sent her crashing into the wall.

Kiara lost hold of _saidar_ again as she was thrown into the wall. She got up, trying and failing to draw on the True Source. Eval had his attention on Joar Addam. "How would you like having your spine snapped, musician?" he asked with cold satisfaction. Joar Addam began to bend backwards.

Desperate, Kiara forced herself to calm down. _Saidar_ flowed into her once she settled her nerves. She knew throwing a weave directly at Eval Ramman would not work. In a crazy attempt she drew all the Five Powers together in a convoluted knot, then released it.

Energy pulsed forth in a rush, distorting the air as it streaked past. The ring of energy spreading from Kiara hit Eval, and he sprawled forwards, past Joar Addam to crash into the opposite wall. Joar Addam fell, the pulse barely missing the top of his head.

Then the pulse hit the bell. It tolled loudly. Kiara crumpled.

Joar Addam pushed himself up off the floor. Harried footsteps sounded on the stairs. The door burst open a second time to admit seven female and six male Aes Sedai. A circle of thirteen.

"What happened here?" the Aes Sedai apparently in control of the link demanded. Her mouth was a thin line. Then she caught sight of Kiara. She lay by the wall, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

"What is this?" the Aes Sedai cried out in shock. She hurried over to Kiara and Delved her. "This girl here nearly killed herself, not to mention almost burning herself out. She needs Restorers."

Half an hour later, Joar Addam was allowed to see Kiara. The Aes Sedai had used a form of Compulsion to make both him and Eval tell the truth of what happened. Eval had been asked to stay back for the Aes Sedai to have a talk with him in the questioning room.

Kiara sat propped up with pillows in her bed, eating porridge from a large bowl. She glanced up when he approached, gulped and placed the bowl on the bedside table, giving him her full attention.

"Are you all right?" they asked each other at exactly the same time.

"Nemene Sedai said that I would be well with some rest," Kiara said cheerfully. "I had six linked Restorers working on me, according to her."

"I had a little crack in my spine, but the Restorers took care of that," Joar Addam told her.

Kiara winced. "That must have hurt."

"Better crack than snap," he replied with a shudder. "You saved my spine."

"It wouldn't have needed saving if I hadn't been so stupid," she said. "Nemene Sedai said he used Compulsion on me. A little, but enough to make me climb that tower. How did you know?"

"He sent someone called Samara to distract me, but I discovered it," Joar Addam answered. "I'm not particularly proud of what I did to her."

"Samara. She sits beside me in class." Kiara looked thoughtful for a moment, then she threw her arms around him, sobbing softly into his shoulder. "I was so frightened. I could not move or touch the True Source. It was terrible."

Joar Addam held her until she pulled away, wiping her eyes. The tall young Aes Sedai Nemene stuck her head in. "She needs rest, Joar Addam Nessosin," she declared sternly. He smiled reassuringly at Kiara before making his exit.


	4. Separation

Part II – Aes Sedai

**Chapter 4: Separation**

More than a year passed, and Joar Addam was nineteen, only a fortnight away from his twentieth naming day, when he was summoned to take the test. If he passed, he would be Aes Sedai.

He entered the testing room apprehensively. Five male and five female Aes Sedai lined opposite walls. He knew what he had to do. He had to shield himself from each Aes Sedai's twenty weaves, first each male then each female. If he could do that and shield the Aes Sedai at the end, he would be raised.

The first male Aes Sedai got up and stood across the room from him. Joar Addam began slashing shields of Spirit and cudgels of Air. Twenty weaves gone. While the Aes Sedai was still recovering from the backlash of a severed weave, Joar Addam wove two weaves and threw them at him, Air before Spirit.

The Aes Sedai slashed the weave of Air, then stopped in his tracks as a shield cut him off from _saidin_. He went back to his seat. The second male Aes Sedai got up and walked towards his spot.

Kiara practised shielding and slashing weaves with Ilyena Dalisar, another initiate due for testing within the year, in the latter's room. So far she usually won the little sparring matches, but Ilyena surprised her here and there.

She was working really hard during class these days, because Joar Addam was testing that day. If he passed, he would be sent home after the ceremony in which he would be raised Aes Sedai. She had to test soon to be able to go home on the same flight as him.

_Saidar _winked out. Kiara looked at Ilyena. She had become distracted. It was a dangerous thing. Her friend released the shield and smiled. The practice continued, Kiara resolutely keeping her thoughts away from Joar Addam Nessosin.

As the last female Aes Sedai returned to the wall, Joar Addam let out a sigh of relief. He was so tired he was ready to collapse. As one the Aes Sedai stood and acknowledged him as one of them. Then they filed out, some smiling at him, a few of the men even clapping him on the shoulder.

Rubbing his eyes, Joar Addam held on to _saidin_ to keep himself from falling over. He trudged out after the Aes Sedai.

Kiara saw Ilyena jump when a knock sounded at the door. Quickly she ducked into the bathroom and shut the door, leaving a crack large enough to look through. Ilyena kept her hold on the Source and went to open the door.

Joar Addam stood in the doorway looking tired but happy. Kiara channelled and made a doorway. She emerged again in the corridor right behind him in time to catch him asking Ilyena if she was there.

With a giggle she jumped on him, throwing arms around his neck and standing on her toes to rest her head on his shoulder. "Did you make it?" she asked.

He twisted out of her choking grip and turned to face her. "Yes," he replied, looking every bit as excited as she felt.

Smiling wryly, both Kiara and Ilyena spread their skirts in deep curtsies. "Good afternoon, Aes Sedai," they said, sounding just formal enough to embarrass him.

Ilyena said, "You two go have a walk. I need a rest, at any rate." She winked mischievously at Kiara, then shut the door.

"Aes Sedai?" Joar Addam growled once the door was closed. "I remember a time when an extremely foul-tempered girl who just arrived in Shorelle called me a—what was it again?—dratted harper."

Kiara grinned. "Among other things. Would you like me to list them? Cocky noise-maker, conceited—"

He placed a hand over her mouth. "No, thank you, I do not need a list. I remember well enough."

She pushed his hand away and curtsied again. "As you say, Aes Sedai. Will Aes Sedai spare the time to teach a lowly student how to cut weaves she can't see?" she teased.

"Aes Sedai has plenty of time," Joar Addam replied dryly. He reached for _saidin_ to toy with her a little, and abruptly ran into a firm shield. He glowered silently at Kiara, who shrugged and released the weave.

"Aes Sedai must not stoop to underhand tricks," she chided him. She slashed a weave of Air he was inching towards her, then blinked when his shield forced itself between her and _saidar_.

"That was underhand," she complained.

Joar Addam removed the shield. "I passed the test doing that."

Kiara smiled. "Teach me."

Two days later, Kiara trailed anxiously after Joar Addam as he walked towards the waiting sho-wing with a handful of other newly raised Aes Sedai. She had been allowed to accompany him as far as the door of the vehicle.

At the entrance, Joar Addam turned suddenly and gave her a fierce hug. "You'll pass your test," he whispered into her hair, "and you'll make a greater Aes Sedai than I ever will. I love you."

"Remember to think of me," she answered. He let go and boarded the sho-wing after kissing her lightly on the cheek. She stood with the other yet-to-be Aes Sedai and watched the sho-wing take off.

A week after that painful farewell, Kiara found herself called upon to take her test to be Aes Sedai. Ilyena hugged her and wished her luck. Her cousin Mierin Eronaile, who had been an Aes Sedai instructor at the school, went especially to the student quarters just before her sho-wing left for V'saine and the Collam Daan, where she was going to study the One Power, to give her a few last minute tips on how to shield men and detect their weaves.

Mierin led Kiara to the testing room personally. At the door she wished her young cousin luck and rushed off. Halfway down the corridor Kiara's beautiful cousin turned and said, "You have a lot of Talent with Healing, dreamwalking and Refining ores. You could study with the Restorers in M'Jinn, the dreamwalkers in Tzora or the Refiners in Comelle. It is your choice." With that she whirled around and ran.

Kiara entered the testing room. Five male and five female Aes Sedai. First the women, then the men. She hoped she was strong enough. She had to pass the test. She had to!

The first female Aes Sedai stood across the room from her. Both embraced _saidar_. Kiara barely had time to breathe deeply before Nemene Sedai struck out at her with three separate weaves.

Mierin Eronaile smiled fondly when she left her cousin to take the test. She had absolute confidence in Kiara's abilities. Her thoughts shifted to Lews Therin Telamon. He was already high in the counsels of the Hall of Servants and had his third name, despite only having been Aes Sedai for a few years. Thank the Light she had seen so much potential in him.

Joar Addam sat in his garden, idly plucking at the strings of his harp. A week since he had left Paaran Disen and Kiara—a week of painful boredom and longing. He had other things to worry about—like his future.

When he had been younger, everyone had been so confident of his potential. Sure, his compositions were played in royal courts worldwide, but there were just too many competitors. He was unable to reach the acclaim expected of him. Perhaps his entire lifetime would not be enough.

And the first seeds of unrest were sown.

Kiara nearly collapsed when the fifth male Aes Sedai walked away. She had passed, thank the Light, but she was as tired as if she had carried a ton of weight on her back for a day.

Nemene Sedai—no, just Nemene, Kiara was Aes Sedai too—came up and smiled. "Maybe we can go to M'Jinn to study Restoring together," she said. "All the experienced Restorers said you would do well in that."

"Maybe," Kiara agreed, returning the smile. "I have other paths to consider yet. But it would be an honour to study beside you as a Restorer."

That night, a few Aes Sedai came to Kiara and asked her what she was going to do after graduating as Aes Sedai. She told them that she would like to study Restoring, and possibly Refining and dreamwalking after that.

One of the Aes Sedai told her that it was possible to study dreamwalking and either Restoring or Refining at the same time. Since she already knew the basics of entering _tel'aran'rhoid_, and the dangers, she could meet the dreamwalker instructors in the World of Dreams and have her lessons there.

Kiara asked the Aes Sedai then if it was possible to learn Restoring in the first half of the week and Refining in the second by Travelling between the two places. After thinking for a moment all the Aes Sedai agreed that it was a feasible method of studying, though it would be tiring and she would have to learn twice as quickly as everyone else. She should do it only if she was sure she could handle it.

"I think I can," Kiara told the Aes Sedai.

"Then arrangements will be made for you to do so," the Aes Sedai replied. They left her to rest.

Someone knocked on her door again. A plumply pretty Da'shain Aiel with dark red hair and bright blue-green eyes entered, curtsying to Kiara. "Excuse the intrusion, Aes Sedai," she said meekly, "I am called Avierhyl, and I have been chosen to serve you."

"Avierhyl," Kiara repeated the name with a smile, exactly the way the Aiel woman had said it, which brought a beam from the latter. "It will be a pleasure."

Avierhyl kept smiling. "A pleasure to serve Aes Sedai."

"Please, call me Kiara."

"I shall leave you to rest after your test, Kiara Sedai," Avierhyl said. "Please call me if you need anything." She opened the door and bumped into an excitable Ilyena. "I apologise," she said hurriedly. "I was too hasty."

"No, Da'shain, it was me who was too hasty. Don't worry yourself," Ilyena deflected the apology just as quickly. "I apologise."

"Please do not," Avierhyl murmured before leaving and closing the door softly behind her.

"Ilyena!" Kiara said cheerfully.

"You made it! You made it! You're Aes Sedai! And I'll be right behind you tomorrow. I'm testing tomorrow! They just told me!" Ilyena cried. Little wonder she had been in such a rush.

"I bet you'll pass with ease," Kiara said encouragingly. "It isn't that difficult, if you set your mind to it. But you must concentrate."

"Concentrate," Ilyena echoed. "I'll remember that."

"A pity I won't around to see you come out all triumphant and frisky," Kiara said. "My ceremony will be held early tomorrow morning. After that Nemene and I will be Skimming to M'Jinn."

"You're going to study with the Restorers!" Ilyena exclaimed.

"And the dreamwalkers. And the Refiners."

"All at the same time?" Ilyena sounded confused.

"Yes. The Restorers during the first half of the week and the Refiners in the second half. And the dreamwalkers at night, in _tel'aran'rhoid_," Kiara explained patiently.

"You're going to be busy," Ilyena said thoughtfully. "And I'm going to miss you." Kiara's sun-haired friend drew her into a hug. "Write to me?"

"Of course, Ilyena. Every week," Kiara assured Ilyena.

"Well, I'll just leave you be," Ilyena said with a smile. "You have a big day ahead. Good night and sleep well, Kiara."

Ilyena hugged Kiara again and all but ran from the room. Kiara had no intention of going to sleep yet. There was something she had to do first.

Joar Addam entered the World of Dreams that night—he felt a strange desire to do so. He sat outside his house on the bench. He pictured a harp, and there it was beside him. He picked it up and picked absently at the strings.

Abruptly the harp vanished. He looked up. Kiara was looking at him from across the fence. She held the harp loosely in one hand. "Good evening, Joar Addam," she greeted him.

"Kiara," Joar Addam said in surprise.

"I'm Aes Sedai, Joar Addam. I finally am!" Kiara announced happily.

"Does that mean you're coming back soon?" he asked.

Kiara's face fell. "No, Joar Addam, it doesn't. I'm going to M'Jinn to study Restoring. That is for the first half of my weeks. The second half will be spent in Comelle with the Refiners, and my nights in _tel'aran'rhoid_ with the dreamwalkers. A year or two, maybe."

"A year or two," he echoed numbly. Without another word he stepped out of the World of Dreams.

Kiara gaped when Joar Addam simply vanished. Why was he so upset? Men. They had never been easy to understand. With a sigh she exited the World of Dreams herself and fell asleep.


	5. The Beginning of the Hunt

**Chapter 5: The Beginning of the Hunt**

The past two years had been the busiest and most tiring of Kiara's life. She was actually Kiara Lisette now, having earned her third name in the speed and efficiency of her learning of three subjects at one time.

Over a month ago the dreamwalkers had claimed that there was no more they could teach her, and the Restorers claimed she was a more than adequate Restorer a fortnight ago. She had left M'Jinn to stay in Comelle to finish learning Refining. Nemene Boann, who had earned the third name Damendar, and had become Kiara's close friend, had stayed behind to study as a master Restorer.

Just last night she had graduated from the Refining school in Comelle, and was all set to go home to Shorelle. She had not seen Joar Addam since he had walked out on her in _tel'aran'rhoid_ that night, two years ago. She had written about a dozen letters to him, but he did not reply to a single one.

She would be leaving Comelle via Travelling at daybreak. She had just enough time before bedtime to go down to the workshop. She found some gold, silver and adamantine, which was a kind of metal almost too strong and hard to break and did not rust. She also found small amounts of steel, and set to work. She had asked especially to learn how to shape musical instruments.

The adamantine she shaped into a harp frame. Weaving Fire and Earth, she melted the gold and silver to make perfect, burnished patterns on the frame. The steel she drew out into long, flexible lengths of varying thickness. They would be the strings—steel harp strings were popular these days. She set the strings into the frame with careful, measured precision. Two hours gone, and it was almost done.

Kiara took out the white _cuendillar_ snowflake she had prepared a few days ago and set it into a corner of the harp. She then set about making a case. She again shaped adamantine to make a box large enough for the harp. She found some smooth leather and _cuendillar_ nails, binding the box.

She worked on the interior then. The best quality fragrant wood was used to make a mould for the harp to fit in. She shaped the wood with chisels of Air. Then she attached the mould to the interior of the case. This done, velvet lining was added to the entire inside surface of the case.

All there was left to do was to make a strap. Kiara was tired, but she pressed on. She shaped a length of chain made from an alloy consisting of adamantine and silver. It shone like the latter, was almost as strong as the former and did not tarnish even under the worst conditions. She covered this chain with transparent streith, sewing the covering on with her own hands. She even took the trouble to embroider snowflakes down the length of the strap.

"Avierhyl," Kiara called softly.

"How may I serve, Kiara Sedai?" the Aiel asked meekly.

"Where is the silk I told you to buy?" she said.

Avierhyl scurried from the room and returned a few minutes later with a small bolt of the finest midnight blue silk Comelle had to offer. A silver snowflake had been embroidered in the corner, like Kiara had wanted it.

"Thank you," she told the Aiel with a wan smile. She wrapped the case, with the harp inside, in the silk, making sure the embroidered corner showed, and bound the package with gold cord. "Let's go to bed, Avierhyl."

Two years had passed since Joar Addam last saw Kiara. A year since he left Shorelle to seek his fortune. He was currently in Paaran Disen, but he would be moving to Comelle at daybreak. Kiara had mentioned Comelle. Perhaps they would see each other there.

He snorted at the hope in his own thoughts. He had walked out on her, two years past. little chance she would have forgiven him. Perhaps better not to see her than to see her married to someone who could hold his temper.

No, he would not seek Kiara out. He would not go near the guild of Refiners. He would not even ask about her. It was, perhaps, for the best.

Kiara Travelled to Shorelle the moment the sun rose completely above the horizon. She went home and visited her family before going next door and knocking on the door, silk-wrapped package clutched in her arms.

"Is Joar Addam here?" she asked the Da'shain Aiel who opened the door.

The Aiel looked devastated. "I used to serve him," he said. "But I failed miserably, Mistress. He vanished a year ago. In the middle of the night. No one knows where he went. The Aes Sedai said there was a gateway made to Mar Ruois the night he disappeared."

Kiara flinched as if hit. "Thank you, Da'shain," she muttered before rushing back to her house and snatching up her still-packed bags. "Avierhyl!" she called. "We're leaving for Mar Ruois. Now."

At Mar Ruois, Kiara and Avierhyl went to every inn and tavern, giving descriptions of Joar Addam and asking if anyone had seen him.

At the end of the day, the pair took a room at the last inn, exhausted. Their search had been futile. Kiara ate her supper in a stony silence. The common room door opened to admit a large man swathed in a cloak. He came right up to the two women.

"I hear you have been asking for a musician with dark hair and eyes who calls himself Joar Addam Nessosin," the man said in a grating voice.

Kiara looked up hopefully, fatigue forgotten. "Have you seen him?" she asked in a low, anxious voice.

"I work at the airport in Mar Ruois," the mysterious stranger said. "I saw this man board a sho-wing due for Paaran Disen six months ago."

Seized with gratitude, Kiara sprang to her feet right there in the middle of the common room and curtsied to the man. "You have my eternal gratitude!" she said sincerely. "If you ever have a need, contact the Hall of Servants and ask for Kiara Lisette Eronaile. I will attend to your requirements as soon as I can."

The large man laughed, a low rumble. "There is no need for any such thing, Aes Sedai," he said softly so only she could hear, "I know a woman searching for her lover when I see one—that was how my wife found me twenty years ago. I was a trader. Good luck on your search, Aes Sedai. I hope you find your musician." Without further ado the stranger walked out again.

Kiara sat back down. "We leave for Paaran Disen at first light, Avierhyl. By Travelling. There is no time to take a sho-wing. I am sorry to put you through all this, but I have to find him."

"I will follow you anywhere, Kiara Sedai," Avierhyl said with her usual quiet confidence. "If this man is so important to you, it is just as important to me that we find him."

Kiara Lisette smiled warmly at her companion. "Thank you, Avierhyl. Thank you."

It was such that the hundred-year-long search began.


	6. Reunion

Part III – Forsaken

**Chapter 6: Reunion**

A hundred years was a long time to search for anything at all. An even longer time to search for something one loved so much she could not live without finding it. In Kiara Eronaile's case, that something was Joar Addam Nessosin, the only man she loved and would ever love.

For a hundred years she had searched. On the eighty-sixth year, her friend and companion, the Da'shain Aiel Avierhyl, had died of old age. She had ceased her search for a week to mourn the Aiel's passing.

From Mar Ruois to Paaran Disen, from Paaran Disen to Comelle, from Comelle to Adanza, from Adanza to M'Jinn, from M'Jinn to V'saine, then to Halidar, Tzora, Devaille and what had to be every city, town and village in the world. In various places during her search she had lost Joar Addam's trail and had to search many cities before she picked it up again.

At the moment she was in Emar Dal. Night had just fallen, a stormy, rainy one, and she was eating a dinner that tasted like ashes in the common room of an inn. Even the bright light cast by the glowbulbs looked dim in her eyes.

A tavern maid walked past her table, carrying a tray of drinks. "Have you seen a musician with dark eyes and hair? His name is Joar Addam Nessosin," she asked without much conviction.

The tavern maid frowned. "Joar Addam … Nessosin, you say?" she said. Her voice had a musical lilt to it. "A musician? He plays the harp and flute among other things? He performed in here not an hour ago, Mistress. He left on foot, saying he would walk to Laras, the small town not a mile from here on the East Road."

"Thank you!" Kiara cried, pressing a few gold coins into the startled girl's hands. She rushed upstairs to her room and grabbed all her bags, slinging them carelessly over her shoulder. Leaving adequate payment on the table, she hugged a silk-wrapped package close and channelled. A gateway opened, as far down the East Road as she could remember. Without hesitation, she stepped through.

The downpour soaked her silk dress with pleated skirts within seconds. There was a lone figure ahead, almost further than she could see. A flash of lightning lit the sky overhead. For that brief moment the person's face was illuminated. A face she recognised, even if it was older and more mature.

"Joar—Addam—Nessosin!" she shouted as loudly as she could. She was shocked when he turned and made a gateway. Drawing deeply on _saidar_, she slashed the weave and slammed a shield between the fool man and _saidin_.

The only thing he could do, and did, was turn and run. Suddenly very, very angry, Kiara raced after him with all the strength she had, and when that failed all the strength _saidar_ would lend her.

She was closing on him when she caught her foot on something, and was thrown off the path, down the hillside. She managed to choke out a single cry before something soft but firm slammed into her face, silencing her. A leafy branch.

The slope ended abruptly, and Kiara Lisette hit the bottom on her side. Lying there, bruised, bleeding and soaked, she felt tears flow uncontrollably from her eyes. So had come so close to catching him, and she had lost him again.

Suddenly, a voice coming from the slope muttered, "Fool of a woman!"

Ignoring her bruises and gashes, Kiara sat bolt upright. Without _saidar_, she could see nothing in the pitch-darkness. "Joar Addam Nessosin! You got me into this mess, now get me out of it!" she cried out.

Light flared to her left. She turned. Joar Addam crouched beside her, a flickering flame hovering above his outstretched hand. "Are you all—"

She cut him off with a full-armed slap, following through with another. he ducked a third and managed to wrap his free arm around her. She thrashed, but could not break free of his grip. She raised her head to shout at him. Joar Addam's mouth came down on hers roughly, almost painfully. It took her less than a second to forget how angry she was and start kissing him back.

Kiara pulled back. "Do you know how long I've been looking for you, you wool-brained idiot?" she snapped. "A hundred years, Joar Addam Nessosin. I intend to make you pay every second of that hundred years back. Every last second."

Joar Addam hugged her close. "I will pay my entire lifetime."

Kiara suddenly remembered the harp. Embracing _saidar_, she channelled Air and Fire to light up the area. She found the silk-wrapped package lying miraculously clean and dry under a tree, on top of the rest of her things. She snatched it up and shoved it into Joar Addam's arms.

"I made this for you a hundred years ago," she said, "and I have borne its weight for that long. You can bear the weight now." With a sniff she took up the rest of her bags and tried to stand. She fell almost immediately.

"I can't do much in this area, but …" Kiara felt a cold shiver pass through her as soon as Joar Addam spoke. She recognised Restoring when she felt it. When it was done, she simply collapsed in a sobbing heap.

"Do you know how much I hate you, Joar Addam?" she asked when the hysterics subsided. "I hate you so much no words can describe it. You put me through a hundred years of hell. I hate you so very, very much." In a much softer voice and tone she added, "But I love you more. So much more."

Joar Addam helped Kiara to her feet. She was already distraught enough. His secret could wait.


	7. Asmodean

**Chapter 7: Asmodean**

In the room Joar Addam had gotten in the inn at Laras, he sat on his bed and watched Kiara sleep on the other. Kiara Lisette, if what he had heard in Comelle was right. A month ago, he had made a trip to Shayol Ghul.

Immortality was what the Great Lord of the Dark had offered—an eternity to achieve the recognition of his greatness. An eternity would surely be enough. He was one of the Chosen—known by most as Forsaken. Soon after he pledged himself to the Dark One, discovered by Mierin Eronaile at the Sharom sixty years ago, men had already given him a name out of contempt and spite. Asmodean.

Kiara knew about Asmodean—he was sure of that. But she did not yet know who Asmodean really was. And in the morning, she would find out. She would find out and regret that she had wasted a hundred years searching for Asmodean. Joar Addam Nessosin was no more.

Perhaps it should not wait. Asmodean crossed the room, took hold of Kiara's shoulder and shook her awake. She sat up and stared at him in an annoyed fashion. "What is it?" she asked.

"Do you know of the Forsaken Aes Sedai?" Asmodean said softly.

"Elan Morin Tedronai, styled Ishamael. Ishar Morrad Chuain, styled Aginor. Ared Mosinel, styled Rahvin. Those are the three I know. Oh yes, and I have heard rumours of this … Asmodean. Why did Mierin drill the Bore?" she answered just as softly, with a lamenting note to her voice towards the end.

"What if I told you I was Asmodean?"

Kiara eyed him warily. "Is this some kind of a joke?" she demanded.

"No."

"Somebody save me," she murmured as she leaned against the headboard of the bed. "Are you certain this isn't a joke or prank?"

Asmodean sighed. "Positive."

"Joar Addam," she began. She paused when he flinched, then continued, "Asmodean, if you prefer. So you are Forsaken. Or Chosen, whatever you want to call yourself. What I want to know is why. No, I don't want to know that. Do you still love me, _Asmodean_? Tell the truth."

"What you need to know is that you cannot stay near me," he replied evasively. "It is dangerous. You will be caught between the Light and the Shadow, both refusing to shelter you, the former because you spend time in the company of one of the Chosen, and the latter because you walk in the Light."

"Answer the bloody question. Directly."

Asmodean sighed again. "Even if I say yes, it changes nothing."

"You still haven't answered the question."

Asmodean remained silent. They stared at each other for a long time.

"Fine. Don't answer it," Kiara snapped. "But I love you, whether you call yourself Joar Addam Nessosin or Asmodean or whatever. You can bind me hand and foot and have me sent away, but when I get free I'll just come after you again, whether it takes me another hundred or five hundred years to find you. I will hunt you down if you took shelter in the Pit of Doom."

Asmodean snapped. "Listen, you!" he burst out. "The Collapse has started. Famine and riots are common things everywhere. This will become a war soon, Kiara. And nothing will change that. There is nothing in this war that will allow for lovers from different sides of the war. Don't you understand? No matter what, it is over. We can never be together because of the choice I have made. For that, I apologise. But you must go."

Someone knocked on the door. Kiara threw Asmodean a dirty look and went to open it. The innkeeper stood there, dry-washing his hands. How much had the man heard? "Someone is here to see you, Kiara Sedai," the stocky man said. "A sun-haired Aes Sedai. Ilyena Sedai."

"Ilyena! She actually managed to track me here!" Kiara exclaimed in surprise. "I will see her immediately."

The moment she was out of the door, Asmodean left his money pouch on the bed and made a gateway for Travelling. A note he had written earlier in the night went with it. He looked at the harpcase wrapped in silk lying on the table. He picked it up and took it with him through the gateway.

Kiara went down to the common room, where she immediately spotted Ilyena sitting serenely at a table. "Ilyena," she greeted her friend with a forced smile as she approached and sat.

"Kiara," Ilyena said. "It is good to see you again."

"Married to the First among Servants, I hear," Kiara said. "To the great Lews Therin Telamon. A pity I'm not quite as lucky."

Ilyena embraced _saidar_ and wove a warding against eavesdropping before continuing, "A war with the shadow is expected, Kiara," she said gravely. "Lews Therin wants every single strong channeler who walks in the Light to be summoned to the Hall of Servants. Of course I remembered you first. There are new threats now. A total of six Forsaken walk free. They number only the known."

"Six?" Kiara Lisette hissed. "I only know Ishamael, Rahvin, Aginor and Asmodean. Who are the other two?"

"Semirhage and Lanfear. And Kiara, I am very sorry about Joar Addam. You do know he is Asmodean?" Ilyena answered.

"Yes, I know. Who are Semirhage and Lanfear?" Kiara asked.

"You are not going to like this. Semirhage is Nemene Damendar Boann. She went over to the Shadow after her sadistic tendencies were discovered—it was news all over the world. Lanfear is Mierin Eronaile. I cannot say I have any liking for the woman—she has done much to aggravate both Lews Therin and me."

"Why is everyone around me turning to the Shadow? Nemene. Joar Addam. And now Mierin? This is …" Kiara trailed off.

"Will you come?" Ilyena pressed her, though the sun-haired Aes Sedai's hand grasped hers on the table in a gesture of companionship and sympathy.

"I will come," Kiara replied, "on one condition. For every strike led by Asmodean, I want to lead the counterattack. For any place governed by him, I want to lead in the retaking attempt. Anything to see him again. But I promise it will do nothing to affect my judgement."

Ilyena looked doubtful for just a moment. "I'm sure it can be arranged," she said finally. "We must hasten to Paaran Disen and the Hall of Servants."

"I will collect my things," Kiara said perfunctorily. She went upstairs. The room was empty. It was not at all unexpected. The harp was gone. In its place were Asmodean's money pouch and a note. She picked it up and read it.

"'_No matter what I do, it is for your sake. I still love you, whatever it is I must do to protect you. I am sorry._' Oh, Joar Addam Nessosin, you fool," she murmured. She channelled Fire, and the note burned. She tucked the money pouch into one of her bags. She would return it to him one day.

Gathering her things, she went downstairs, made payment for the night's lodging and left with Ilyena. Once out of sight, the sun-haired woman made a gateway and they stepped through right into the Hall of Servants.

Kiara was brought before Lews Therin Telamon, a handsome man with brown hair. The Dragon, and the Lord of the Morning. A great man.

"This is Kiara Lisette Eronaile," Ilyena announced to the gathered Hall. "A qualified Aes Sedai, Restorer, Refiner, and dreamwalker, as well as a strong channeler."

"Thank you, Ilyena Moerelle," Lews Therin said formally. He opened his mouth to say more, but a fearful-looking Aiel ran in and threw himself on the floor before all of them.

"Forgive the intrusion, Aes Sedai, but this is terribly urgent news!" the man cried in alarm. "Three other Forsaken have declared themselves. Eval Ramman, who the people now call Balthamel. Saine Tarasind, now known as Mesaana. And the latest is Kamarile Maradim Nindar, now known as Graendal. Her announcement … caused an upheaval. The city of Devaille has been seized by Friends of the Dark, supported by the Forsaken Aginor's constructs, half-human, half-bestial creatures called Trollocs. This is war."

"This is war," Lews Therin agreed.

"I have a request, First," Kiara spoke up boldly. "I request to be at the head of every single counterattack or retaking attempt against the Forsaken Asmodean. The right is mine."

Lews Therin regarded her for a moment. He exchanged a brief look with Ilyena before saying, "It is indeed your right, so long as it does not cloud your judgement. Your request is granted."

Kiara curtsied. "I thank you, First among Servants. I will give my best to the fight against the Shadow."

"Call for Tel Janin Aellinsar, Duram Laddel Cham and Barid Bel Medar. A war counsel must commence. The High Council, the three mentioned earlier, Ilyena Moerelle Dalisar and Kiara Lisette Eronaile will attend."

The Aes Sedai not mentioned by Lews Therin filed out, while the Aiel who had reported the starting of the war ran to call Tel Janin, Duram Laddel and Barid Bel. Kiara Lisette watched them go. It was indeed war.


	8. The Nightly Truce

Part IV – The War of Shadow

**Chapter 8: The Nightly Truce**

Not a year into the reported onset of the war, Adanza was attacked and taken. Kiara juggled between Restoring the injured, making weapons using the Power and patrolling _tel'aran'rhoid_ for Shadowsworn activity.

When it was confirmed that Asmodean held Adanza, however, she cast her tiredness aside to take up field command. She would lead soldiers and Aes Sedai alike in an attempt to retake Adanza.

She was part of the circle of six men and seven women holding the three large Travelling gateways to the plains surrounding Adanza open for the soldiers to march through. Every one of them had an _angreal_. Kiara held a _sa'angreal_, a polished crystal staff with its lower end sharpened to a point and the top shaped in the likeness of a swallow in flight.

Finally, the last soldier was through. Ilyena, who had control of the circle, released all of them. Drawing enough _saidar_ to make a smaller gateway, which was about a part in thirty of what she could hold, Kiara stepped though to the head of the formation of men and Aes Sedai. They were just out of range of the Shadowsworn archers in the city.

"Give the order for the Aes Sedai to link. Two men and a woman to each circle, with the one most adept at Air, Fire and Earth in control," she told Tel Janin, who rode at her side. The order was given, magnified by flows of Air and Water so Tel Janin did not have to shout.

Kiara initiated the link with Tel Janin. He held a crystal sword, _Callandor_, one of the newest _sa'angreal _made, in his hands, and was drawing massive amounts of _saidin _through it. The staff in Kiara's hands, _Cyrelaide_, was _Callandor_'s female equivalent. It was tricky, embracing _saidar_ while fighting the roaring torrent of _saidin_, but she managed well enough.

She wove Water and Air using _saidar_, creating a fog so that the defenders on top of the city walls could not see well enough to strike accurately. The assault would have to be quick if they were to gain any advantage. Maintaining the huge cloud of fog with the immense flood of _saidar_ rushing through her, Kiara drew on _saidin_ and wove separate weaves of Fire and Earth.

The weaves of Earth were aimed at the city walls. The steady stone began to shake violently, throwing archers, soldiers and Dreadlords alike off its heights. "Call on the others to launch their attacks."

She felt the Power being used on all sides. The Aes Sedai made their own offensive weaves and threw them at the defenders. She could see weaves being severed as well—the Dreadlords were retaliating.

The weaves of Fire took effect. The catapults on top of the city walls burst into flames. It was time for the main army to charge. Kiara had the order given, and the army surged forward. The Aes Sedai stayed on the hilltop.

Releasing the weaves she had woven earlier, Kiara used both _saidin_ and_ saidar_, utilising all the five Powers in the trick she had accidentally stumbled upon as a student. To create a more destructive effect, Fire and Earth were predominant in the tightly knotted weave.

Kiara let go of the weave of Spirit holding her weapon back. The weave unravelled from its tightly coiled position, spiralling towards the city at escape velocity. The entire thing hit the walls without harming them, but humans and Trollocs were not as lucky.

Those not thrown off the walls by the force of the Maelstrom burst into flame. The walls shook with the impact of the aftershock, throwing more people off. A good number of those were extremely startled Dreadlords.

A bell tolled somewhere deep in the city. Hitting bells always stopped a Maelstrom dead, for some reason. She could not use it too often, or the Dreadlords would discover this and have bells put up around the walls.

The gates opened, and hordes of Trollocs rushed out to meet the oncoming army of men. Many Aes Sedai turned their efforts to striking down the Myrddraal among the Trollocs. Trollocs, men could handle. The Eyeless were not as easy. Far from it.

Then the counterattack from the Dreadlords came. Kiara drew on the full strength of both _Cyrelaide _and _Callandor_, slicing thick weaves while lashing back at the enemy.

She barely caught sight of the balefire streaking towards the hilltop. There was only one thing that could stop balefire. Balefire. Hurriedly she wove a much stronger and larger bar of liquid fire than the one threatening them and let it loose.

The two bars hit each other and exploded in a shower of glowing motes. Trying her best to ignore the purple afterimage left by the brightness of the balefire, Kiara used another Maelstrom, a smaller and more centralised one, on the knot of Dreadlords the Power allowed her to see. Nothing but bells could stop a Maelstrom. Balefire and the weave for severing other weaves only passed right through it. Even another Maelstrom would not stop it.

The other side did try balefire. She had to weave another one to cancel theirs out. Then the Maelstrom hit home. Dreadlords flew off the top of the wall. Without pause Kiara wove lightning out of Air and Fire, casting it into the Trollocs struggling to get out of the gate. There were more Trollocs than men.

A side gate was thrown open, and two packs of a dozen Darkhounds each burst from the opening, throwing themselves in among the men. A single drop of saliva or blood from a Darkhound killed as surely as a blow from a Trolloc's weapon, if more painfully.

Exerting _Cyrelaide _and _Callandor _to their limits, Kiara used Air to drag Darkhounds from the fray and at a safe distance destroyed them with balefire. The balefire would bring countless soldiers back to life. The other Aes Sedai did the same. More Darkhounds were set loose.

The battle raged on all day and through most of the night. It ended with the retreat of the surviving Trollocs back into the city. A small victory won. Kiara broke off the link between Tel Janin and her, releasing the Power. He did the same, and both nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

Camp was made well out of range of projectiles from the city. A rod-shaped _ter'angreal_ meant to attract and absorb any balefire within a mile radius was set up in the middle of the camp.

With the other Aes Sedai Restorers, Kiara moved among the injured and Restored all the major injuries. For that, her own strength was enough. She did not need _Cyrelaide_.

After she had done what she could for the soldiers, Kiara had a meal, then retired to her tent. She set a warding so that no one could enter uninvited, and channelled.

Asmodean was in a state of near collapse when he returned to his chambers after the battle. He pulled his bloodied shirt off—an archer had shot him in the shoulder—lay on the bed and thought about the events of the day.

One of the female Dreadlords had told him that the woman leading the army against them had shone as bright as the sun when she countered the balefire they sent at her, and when she dealt with the Darkhounds.

He himself had felt a man channelling impossible amounts of _saidin_. It had definitely been a _sa'angreal_. Even the strongest man could not have channelled so much through a mere _angreal_.

Goosebumps rose on his skin. A gateway appeared in the middle of the room. One of the female Chosen? A Dreadlord messenger? He nearly jumped out of his skin in shock when Kiara stepped through the doorway. He did jump out of bed, at any rate.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed in a low, angry voice. "If anybody sees you …"

"Calm down, Asmodean," Kiara said, unperturbed. She tossed the money pouch he had left in the inn at him. "You left something behind."

He tossed the pouch aside without so much as a glance at it. "Please tell me you got in here on your first try," he said agitatedly.

"Oh no, I walked in on a bathing Dreadlord five tries ago," Kiara shot back, voice loaded with sarcasm. "What do you take me for?"

"What if someone sensed you channelling?" he fussed, his handsome face creased with worry and something else. Nervousness, perhaps.

"There must be a hundred Dreadlords in here," Kiara argued smoothly. "It could have been any one of them."

"Why did you come?" he asked. "How can I make myself hurl the Power into the army like that, knowing it might strike you? You always make things difficult for me. Always."

"That is the point," Kiara snapped irritably. "You still don't understand. We stand on opposite sides in this war. Under cover of night, we may have a private truce, but in the day, we are enemies and free game for each other. That is in no way unclear or difficult. A simple arrangement."

"Kiara …"

"Asmodean. It is easier on the tongue than Joar Addam, don't you think? Even if it does mean something uncomplimentary," Kiara interrupted lightly.

"That's beside the point," Asmodean brushed her distracting comment aside. "What are you doing here? Is it to return the money? If that is so, you have done it, and you can leave."

"I came to pay you a friendly visit," she replied acidly.

"What is wrong with you, Kiara?" Asmodean demanded in exasperation. He threw himself down on his bed and leaned against the bedpost.

Kiara found a comfortable-looking chair facing the bed and sat, arranging her skirts much too carefully before she began, "The best and worst thing that ever happened to me was meeting you. I hate you with all my heart and soul because you put me in this wretched state. But every—night—I—can't—help—wishing … it is better in the day, when I'm busy. Work distracts me from you."

"That's right," Asmodean ploughed into the opening she had left. "All I do, and will ever do from this day on, is making your life miserable. But none of this is my fault. You brought this upon yourself. You insisted on holding on when I've already made it clear that we have to make a clean break."

"Do we?" Kiara countered calmly. She seemed unfazed by his tirade, which had been designed to hurt.

"You know we do," he insisted. Something was afoot.

"If you can tell me that you hold not a shred of feeling for me beyond obligation," Kiara said, "and make me believe it, I will walk out of here and not appear before you deliberately again."

"I am Chosen," Asmodean said firmly, ignoring the ache in his heart. "The Chosen feel nothing for their adversaries. They can feel nothing, must feel nothing, will feel nothing, and truly do feel nothing. I am Chosen. My path is set. I … no longer feel anything for you." He wished he had not hesitated, even for that fraction of a second.

To his surprise, Kiara got up and made a gateway. "Well, that settles it," she said cheerfully—cheerfully!—and arranged her skirts patiently.

"I gave up living for anything else but you a long time ago … a hundred and three years, I think. That gives me sufficient reason to walk into the first bar of balefire I see tomorrow. I mean it, _Chosen_. That would make you happy, won't it? You will never have to fear seeing me again. Good night to you. Sleep well and wake," she continued, smiling all the time.

Kiara put one foot through the gateway, slowly but not appearing to be hanging back on purpose as she was, and hoped her plan would work. She took the step. Halfway through, a weave of Air that she could not see snaked around her arm and pulled her back, and another equally invisible weave slashed her doorway apart. She let go of _saidar_. There was no need for it.

"If I had a hat, I would take it off to you, Kiara," Asmodean said after heaving a sigh. "You win. I concede defeat. It does not stop me wishing you would understand. But you refuse to. Perhaps it is just as well." A subtle tug with the weave around her arm spun her neatly into his arms.

"About time you realised," Kiara said dryly. "The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills, but this time it spins in my favour."

"Sometimes, I wonder if you are _ta'veren_," Asmodean responded.

Kiara pulled his face down and kissed him lightly. "It is irritating, being so … vertically challenged," she remarked. "I wish I could grow taller. Too bad even the Power can't do that for me. It has its limits."

"Vertically challenged?" Asmodean echoed, not quite managing to hide the amusement in his tone. "I never knew you thought of yourself that way. I never knew you saw any flaws in yourself …"

"Are you implying that I'm conceited, you dratted harper?" Kiara asked, only half joking.

"No, I'm implying that you're self-confident."

She traced the outline of his shoulder with a finger and paused at the base of his neck, frowning. "What's this?" she muttered. "You're practically tied up in knots! What made you so tense? Try to relax."

"You," Asmodean replied truthfully. Kiara pushed him down into a sitting position on the bed and knelt on the mattress behind him. Her fingers danced up and down his spine, loosening knots he had barely noticed were there.

"This would be easier if I just used the Power," she said, "but there are certain merits to doing a thing physically. Promise me you won't hurt anyone not directly involved in this war. Promise me."

Asmodean froze, then nodded slowly. She worked in silence for a few more minutes. He held his tongue, relaxed and enjoyed himself.

"Done," Kiara declared triumphantly at the end of the few minutes. "And a good thing, too. My fingers ache." She climbed off the bed.

Asmodean's arm snagged Kiara around the waist and quite literally reeled her back in, seating her beside him. "This is an outrage of my modesty," she protested and tried to get up.

He restrained her with one arm and quickly planted gentle kisses down the side of her neck. Kiara leaned her head against his shoulder and let him do the other side as well.

"If battles were like this, I would lose every single one to you," she complained half-heartedly.

"That reminds me," Asmodean said, pausing. "You won one today."

"And tomorrow we will fight another," Kiara said matter-of-factly. "And the day after tomorrow, and the day after that. Until I drive you and your Dreadlords out of Adanza, as well as destroy all your Shadowspawn."

"How ambitious of you." He resumed his fawning.

Kiara jumped. "Someone is trying to circumvent my warding," she said, sounding panicked for the first time that night. "I must go. Now." Without further explanation she wove a gateway and darted through.


	9. Broken Oaths

**Chapter 9: Broken Oaths**

Once through the gateway, Kiara unpicked the weave. She could feel someone tugging at the tent flap, trying to get in. She pulled her dress over her head and slipped into her blankets in her shift.

"Kiara Lisette!" Tel Janin's voice sounded outside. "Are you awake? Release the warding."

Kiara messed her hair up a little and sat up, releasing the warding. Her second-in-command lifted the tent flap and entered. "The Shadowsworn in Adanza show no sign of preparing to attack, and their watch is lax. A surprise attack now would hit them hard," he counselled.

"No, Tel Janin," Kiara said firmly. "First of all, at night adversaries come to an unspoken agreement to stop fighting and rest. I'm not saying Shadowsworn always keep this truce, but we should, as much as circumstances allow. The warding around the camp will tell us if they send Draghkar. The second reason is more practical. We all need rest, soldier or Aes Sedai. No surprise attack."

Tel Janin stared at her long and hard before nodding. "Your arguments are sound," he said grudgingly. "Rest well." He left.

Not five hours after midnight, a loud wailing sound from the _ter'angreal_ in the centre of the camp woke everyone. Balefire. They had been attacked in the wee hours of the morning with balefire.

Kiara jumped from her pallet as if it had stung her, hastily yanking on a dress with small, overlapping plates of Power-wrought gold and silver on the bodice and narrow divided skirts. She rummaged among her belongings and slipped two black rods slightly longer than her palm out. She put one up either sleeve. In case she was shielded from the Power later on.

"Kiara Sedai!" an Aiel, horrified at the violence, cried out. "The … balefire was the largest we have seen so far. It must have been created by a link between many powerful … Dreadlords."

Nodding tersely, Kiara channelled some Spirit into the balefire-absorbing _ter'angreal_, which seemed to be failing. Drawing _saidar_ through _Cyrelaide_, she tried to fix it. Balefire could be blocked, but if too many Dreadlords were linked … there was no knowing how powerful the balefire could be.

Her _saidar_-enhanced hearing caught the sound of feet, paws and hooves approaching. A few seconds later, Trollocs, Myrddraal, Darkhounds and mounted Friends of the Dark charged into their camp.

Abandoning the _ter'angreal_—it had been overloaded to the point that it could no longer serve as protection—, Kiara turned on the Shadowspawn. A small but concentrated and powerful Maelstrom took a Myrddraal down from its horse. A vicious twist with a weave of Air broke its neck. It lay on the ground, writhing as its fellows trampled it.

Tel Janin appeared, _Callandor_ a shining thing too bright to look at in his hands. She drew on the Power until _Cyrelaide _glowed like its counterpart and wove Fire. Every Shadowspawn within a twenty-metre radius of her burst into flame. She began cutting down others with razor-edged weaves of Air.

Suddenly, a shield of Spirit forced itself in between her and _saidar_. She whirled, whacking the Dreadlord looming over her from behind in the face with _Cyrelaide_. The shield vanished as the pretty honey-haired woman stumbled back, clutching a bleeding nose. With a single ruthless stroke Kiara slammed a weave of Spirit similar to a shield but sharper between the woman and the Power before she had time to recover. The Dreadlord was now severed and relatively harmless.

Kiara wove tight bonds of Air around the traitor and tied them off, leaving the Dreadlord's legs free so she could run if needed. But she would do no fighting. If anything, the linked Dreadlord's attempted attack had told her one thing—the channelers on the other side were moving in. Linked.

A young captain of her troops was cornered by no less than eight Trollocs, each with its scimitar raised for the strike. Highly destructive attacks like balefire and Maelstroms were out of the question—they might harm the man as well. Instead, Kiara wove Water, drying the blood in each Trolloc's veins.

Without the flow of blood, the Trollocs dropped their weapons and clutched at their throats. Within seconds all eight lay dead upon the ground. Kiara turned on some Dreadlords, the light emanating from _Cyrelaide_ getting brighter and brighter as she drew more of _saidar_. The wondering stare from the captain she had saved went unnoticed.

Kiara knew she could not hold out for long against the Dreadlords if they were linked, even with _Cyrelaide_. The feel of the Power being used in tremendous amounts was everywhere. Channelling furiously, she backed towards Tel Janin.

"Prepare for a link," she whispered as soon as she was close. The light faded from Callandor. At his nod, Kiara initiated a link. Without further ado she lashed out with both halves of the One Power, severing several Dreadlords at one go.

Then she realised that a particular Myrddraal was linked to about eighty Trollocs. She wove a Razor Wind and it flew apart into little pieces, torn asunder by rapidly revolving weaves of Air. The disciplined Trollocs in the area immediately dropped, howling and dying right and left.

A Myrddraal barked orders in the Trolloc tongue. Some of the Trollocs heard, and formed a ragged line. They were regaining formations. Kiara channelled Earth, and the ground split apart. The assembled Trollocs fell into a deep chasm with piercing cries. Without another thought Kiara shut the split before any of those on her side stumbled and fell in. Blood leaked from a crack in the ground. She thought she felt the flow of _saidin_ from Tel Janin ebb a little. He was tiring, and she would tire soon as well. He staggered a little and looked surprised when she released him from the link.

"Time for negotiations, I think," she muttered softly. She made a gateway, stepped through and let it close before Tel Janin could react. Then she realised she had stepped into a nightmare.

She had emerged into the throne room in the palace of Adanza, behind some curtains to the side of the royal seat. Asmodean sat on the throne. Rather uneasily, he thought. At his side, but plainly his equal, was a tall woman dressed all in black Kiara felt was familiar. The woman could channel. Hurriedly she masked her own ability to do so. It would not do to be detected by one of the Forsaken.

Kiara looked on. Worst of all was the willowy woman with a lovely heart-shaped face, wearing a thin, clinging gown of barely opaque silk, on Asmodean's knee. At least that was what she thought was the worst, before the woman was dragged in.

The woman was able to channel with average abilities, but was shielded. There were wings of grey in her hair, though most of it was still dark. She was Aes Sedai. Her head hung down, and her hair hid her face completely. She was tossed unceremoniously onto her knees by the two Myrddraal that had dragged her in.

Then she raised her head, and Kiara had to suppress a gasp of shock and anger. The woman was Asmodean's mother. No, Joar Addam's mother. No man would do that to his own parent. Though she was aging, Joar Addam's mother was still a stunningly beautiful woman. But her face held the brokenness of someone who had received the attentions of a Halfman. It had to be that.

"I came to beg," she said hoarsely. "Twice you have thrown me out. Now you will hear me speak."

"You will command the Chosen?" the black-clad woman asked with obvious contempt.

Joar Addam's mother went on as if she had not heard, "My son is Joar Addam Nessosin, and he is dead. Asmodean has killed him. And Asmodean is Forsaken. A traitor and worse than a beast."

Kiara saw the colour flood Asmodean's face. He was angry. Suddenly she could not feel his mother's ability to channel anymore, but the black-clad Forsaken woman had not lifted a finger. The realisation struck her with horrible clarity. He had severed his own mother. He was that far gone.

"Take her," he told the Myrddraal with distaste, "and do what you will." The two Myrddraal took up Joar Addam's mother's arms again and dragged her out. She screamed every step of the way. And kept screaming until distance drowned her voice out. But Kiara was sure she had kept screaming even then.

A wave of anger hit her like a block of ice to her face. Throwing aside the mask, she drew as much _saidar_ as she could through _Cyrelaide_. The black-clad Forsaken looked up in surprise. She was Nemene. Semirhage.

The glow of _saidar_ appeared around Semirhage. Kiara tried to sever the Forsaken, but the weave lost its sharp edge just before it hit home, and Semirhage was merely shielded. A weave of Air slammed her to the wall. Kiara held both weaves and rounded on Asmodean. He was staring at her as if she were the Dark One. She shielded him, too. She would put nothing past him. Nothing, now. The willowy flipskirt was hurled from his lap with Air. She landed a few feet away and lay there sobbing hysterically.

"I cannot believe that I trusted you," Kiara said in a voice filled with cold anger. "You launched a surprise attack on my camp when I spared you from one. You dandle a flipskirt on your knee when I was fighting for my life and the lives of countless others. And worst of all, you severed your own mother and gave her to Myrddraal.

"Do you know how many promises you have shattered? How many broken oaths lie at your feet? Forget the attack—this is war. Let's talk about your mother. You have sworn an oath on your thirteenth naming day, like everyone else, you would never lift a finger to harm your parents. You broke it. Destroyed it."

"The Great Lord breaks all the oaths we have taken," he muttered with a pleading look at her and a warning glance towards Semirhage. So he was afraid. It was no excuse.

"What about your promise to pay me an entire lifetime? What of your promise not to harm innocent people? You gave them after you swore to the Shadow." Kiara glared at Semirhage, then knocked the woman out with a form of Healing that made someone sleep for a few hours. She concentrated on Asmodean.

"Don't you know who that is?" Asmodean raised his voice immediately. "Semirhage. I have to put up some kind of pretence in front of her."

Kiara could have done it with the Power, but this man was not worth the effort. She crossed the room and struck him across the face with her hand, then dusted her hands off as if she had touched something filthy.

"The next time I see you," she told him, "I will use balefire. And I won't miss, mark my words."

Asmodean's hand closed firmly around her arm. "Kiara," he said tightly, "you have to try and understand my position."

Without warning she whirled, free hand holding the small black rod. She pressed a protruding part, and a blade appeared from one end, solidifying from its liquid form stored in the hilt. The blade slashed his hand deeply, then went to his throat. He did not let go.

"Does a human being seek to understand something below her?" she responded to his question acidly. Her blade pressed so hard against his flesh that it drew blood. And still he did not let go. "And let go."

"Use the Power on me, or that weapon, but I will not let go just because you wish me to," he told her. His voice was hard and flinty.

Kiara was ready to explode. Taking the blade from his throat, she turned it point-down and drove it into the back of Asmodean's forearm. With a yell he let go, trying to pull the blade from his flesh. She Travelled, only letting go of the weave shielding him when she was well away.


	10. Retaking Adanza

**Chapter 10: Retaking Adanza**

When Kiara returned, the battle at the camp was over. They had won, but at what price? Many men lay dead among the Trollocs, Myrddraal and Darkhounds, and only some of them were Friends of the Dark. Aes Sedai and Dreadlord alike lay dead over one another's corpses.

"What do we do with the dead?" the young captain she had saved earlier asked her respectfully.

"Bury ours," Kiara ordered, "and drag theirs behind warded horses in front of the city to rot. Do it."

The man looked shocked at her vehemence, then saluted and gave the order for his men to do as she had commanded. She would let Asmodean know she was no pushover to be toyed with, then left and expected to sit meekly and cry. Oh, no. Kiara Lisette Eronaile would defeat him yet.

"Tel Janin," she called. He came to her, avoiding her eyes. She knew there was anger burning in them. "See that the disposal of the dead is done properly. We will rest tonight. And tomorrow, we will retake Adanza. There will be no more truce. We attack when we can, whenever we can."

He nodded, but looked thoughtful. He was probably wondering what had occurred on the other side of her gateway that had made her change her mind about integrity so quickly. Not that he would have any idea. She turned away.

Morning dawned grey and cloudy. Weather to suit the mood of the day, thought Kiara. Her eyes stung, but no tears came. Her tears had dried when she was alone in her tent a few hours ago. But the wounds remained. They would always remain, and they would fester in her until the day she died.

Kiara's gaze hardened as she looked upon the spires of the palace rising above other buildings in Adanza. She hated Asmodean with all of her heart. What was left of it; mostly shattered ruins. She longed to eviscerate him with her bare hands and throw his entrails to the vultures. She longed to look upon his mangled corpse and smile. Yet she longed as well to feel his arms around her and his lips on hers. It was unexplainable. She still loved him.

"If he is dead," she whispered to herself, "he will trouble you no more."

"The dead do not cease to trouble the living even though they have expired," Tel Janin's voice advised quietly.

"Be silent," Kiara snapped, her voice more cutting than she had intended. "You know nothing about this."

"A lot more than you think," he retorted softly, but did not argue further. A display of his infinite wisdom.

Kiara channelled briefly, a weave of Fire setting the banners flying above the walls of Adanza ablaze. Asmodean's banner. The irony of it made her smile bitterly. The symbol on the red banners was a harp made of snowflakes. _Kiara_ meant "snow" in Lireyya, the dialect known as the Scholar's Tongue. _Kiara Lisette_ essentially meant "snowstorm" or "blizzard". A storm she would be, indeed.

The defenders began to assemble atop the walls. "Link with seven women and five other men," Kiara instructed Tel Janin. "Concentrate on taking out Dreadlords and Darkhounds. Use _Callandor_ whenever is necessary. I trust your judgement."

Tel Janin inclined his head, both as acknowledgement to her order and as a polite response to her praise. "Will you form a similar circle?" he asked.

"No, Tel Janin," she replied, her lip curling. "I walk a different path. I am going to attempt to be the first person in this war to kill a Forsaken. I will try very, very hard. I am determined … to succeed."

"The Light go with you," he breathed, as much out of surprise as anything else. "You intend to enter the city unnoticed."

Kiara nodded silently, then held out her right hand, palm up. "It has been an honour," she said.

"An honour," Tel Janin repeated as he touched his palm to hers. "You do not intend to return." A line appeared between his brows.

Kiara snorted. "A precaution. I do intend to return if humanly possible."

He looked highly doubtful as he took her hand, turned it and brought her knuckles to his lips briefly. "You are a remarkable woman, Kiara. With you on our side, we may win this war yet. If I may go so far as to comment on this, I think you deserve better than … the one who holds this city."

Kiara turned and went for the patch of ground she had memorised in preparation for Travelling. Her mind was a jumbled mass of emotion. Behind her, projectiles of both the physical and Power-wrought type started to be exchanged between the two sides.

"You are a fool, Asmodean," Semirhage said contemptuously as she Restored his arm. He shuddered at the slight twinge of pain that passed though him.

"We the Chosen must not develop an attraction like you harbour for that girl. The Great Lord would not approve. You heard what she said to you. She will kill you the first opportunity she gets. Loving her will result in your own demise," she continued.

"I know," Asmodean answered miserably.

"The attack has begun," Semirhage advised. "You would do well to forget your feelings for the Aes Sedai and fight to keep your hold on the city. I have no intention of being caught in a battle, so fare you well." She was as good as her word, making a gateway and vanishing through it in the blink of an eye.

"All of you Forsaken being the cowards you are, I expected she would do that. I appreciate it, too. Now I have you all to myself," a _very_ familiar voice said.

Asmodean felt goosebumps rise on his arms. The next moment, he was flung out of his seat on the throne with a powerful blast of Air. Kiara drew as much as she could through _Cyrelaide_, putting a shield between her once-beloved and holding him down with Air. A little Fire, too. He deserved it.

"Guess what?" she told the man on the floor. "I've changed my mind about balefire. I will draw this out, slowly and most unpleasantly. Don't try to resist—it only makes everything worse."

"I won't lift a finger against you and you know it," Asmodean responded angrily. "Do what you like, Kiara." Something hard, invisible and definitely _hot_ snapped his face to a side.

"I have no such qualms," Kiara said harshly.

Asmodean glared at her steadily. He had never been brave, but this was different. Before any other he would beg for mercy as necessary, but the woman before him was a special case. "Then do it," he told her crisply. "Why am I not feeling tremendous amounts of pain right now? It doesn't matter to you. _I _don't matter to you. You implied as much the last time we spoke to each other."

Another slap with Air. The amount of Fire in it was larger, this time. Kiara was riled. Which was exactly what he wanted. She was riled because he was stating exactly the opposite of what she felt. The longer she stayed riled, the harder it would be for her to kill him.

"Is that it?" he asked casually, though his cheekbone felt fractured. "You will never find the heart, Kiara."

"Is that what you think?" Kiara asked. There was a dangerous glint in her eyes. She slammed Asmodean into the wall across the room from her. She spotted the dagger she had left in his arm the previous night lying on the armrest of the throne. So he thought she would go soft? A weave of Air deftly picked the thing up, activated the blade and thrust it straight into his abdomen. She saw his eyes widen before he let out a cry of pain.

"You're right, Asmodean," she said softly. "I still love you very, very much, and that is why I won't be able to find the heart to leave you as a creature dedicated to the Dark. Oh, yes, I love you very much." Her heart ached at the sight of the blood staining his white silk shirt.

She released every weave on him, including the shield. "Go on, Asmodean. Retaliate."

Without the weaves of Air supporting him, Asmodean crumpled into a bleeding heap on the floor. He still could not believe it. She had plunged a knife into his flesh. He had made her angrier than he himself had expected.

"Retaliate! You're Chosen, for goodness' sake, act like one. Think homicidal," Kiara taunted from her position beside the throne.

Against the pain, both in his wound and his chest, Asmodean raised his head. "Never," he said grimly as his blood began to pool on the floor tiles. "I love you, Kiara. It won't change until the last … drop … of blood … leaves my veins." His voice slurred at the end as a wave of dizziness swept over him.

Kiara shook where she stood as Asmodean lowered his head back against the floor. He was dying, and fast. Her knees threatened to give way. Tears welled in her eyes and spilled over their rims. She did not want to see him die.

"I have … upset you," his voice said faintly. "Take my life as atonement. It was yours from the start."

Something snapped in Kiara then. She embraced _saidar_. Asmodean's body jerked upright. The knife was ripped from his stomach and flung away. The weaves of Healing went to work on the gaping wound. Even as she Restored him she was crossing the room at a near-run.

She flung herself on him the moment the wound was gone, hissing many, many uncomplimentary names into his ears. "I can't do this!" she gasped. "You are the single largest disaster in my life."

"And you count yourself a blessing to me, I suppose," Asmodean growled irately. "You are a catastrophe I cannot live without." He shoved her backwards one step, and he kissed her, not at all gently.

Kiara was suddenly very aware of what he was doing. What she was allowing herself to let him do. She bit down on his lower lip, hard and pushed him away with all the strength in her arms. He stumbled backwards, muttering under his breath and pressing fingers to a bleeding lip. "A catastrophe with a bad temper and sharp teeth," he revised his opinion of her, "that I still cannot live without."

"It's over between me and you, Asmodean," Kiara said, more in self-denial than anything else.

"Those who follow you have broken into the city," he said suddenly. "I congratulate you. But remember this, Kiara. It will never be over between us. You know this." He made a gateway and left her there. She had done absolutely nothing to stop him. She hated herself.

Kiara was still standing there, clutching _Cyrelaide_ loosely when Tel Janin burst through the doors, _Callandor_ blazing in his hands. It was a sign of their friendship that Lews Therin had lent the thing to him.

"Did you get him?" her second-in-command asked roughly as the light in his _sa'angreal_ dimmed.

Kiara felt sick. "No. He … got away."

Something in her face made the colour drain from Tel Janin's. _Callandor_ clattered to the floor as he crossed the room to her, worry creasing his face. They had grown as close as blood siblings during the long months of war with the Shadow, though he was generally too self-conscious to show much of it.

"Was there someone else here?" he asked as he shook her gently but firmly. "Did anyone use Compulsion on you? Try to remember."

Kiara laughed mirthlessly. Tel Janin and the Aes Sedai who had begun to assemble all took wary steps back. "No, Tel Janin. There was no Compulsion—my mind is clear as crystal. I have reason to believe Semirhage has been here in the recent past, but there was no sign of her when I arrived."

Tel Janin's face cleared for a moment. "You are certain, I hope," he said.

Kiara smiled a smile that never touched her eyes. "Positive."


	11. Friends and Cousins

_Thanks to Ba'alzamon and Psyco Faerie for the reviews..hope you like this chapter and please continue to review:))_

_Ba'alzamon: it isn't too clear when Sammael went over, yep but he used to fight for the forces of the Light, and only went over when he was certain the Dark One will win. And during the beginning of the war it wasn't so clear. So yeah. But thanks for the reminder of timing, anyway. Might come in useful later ;))_

Part V – Sealing of the Bore

**Chapter 11: Friends and Cousins**

More than eight years had passed since the retaking of Adanza from Asmodean's forces. Kiara, once energetic and optimistic, was a shattered ruin. She was tired, sick and more alone than ever. The three men she had regarded and loved as brothers had gone over to the Shadow. Tel Janin Aellinsar, Duram Laddel Cham and Barid Bel Medar. Sammael, Be'lal and Demandred.

She sat alone in her study, reading the papers on her desk without any of the information registering. She had ceased taking a part in the direct bloodshed a couple of years ago, when a child's head had been blown apart an inch from her face during one of the retaking battles. She was now the Overseer of Weaponry. In other words, the head Refiner. She took a role in Restoring when the manpower in that department was stretched tight.

Kiara saw her own reflection in the silver-framed mirror her three "brothers" had left her. A hundred and fourteen years ago, she had been young and pretty. Nine years ago she had been elegant and beautiful. At present she simply looked tired, ill, abused and dishevelled. There was not a single line marring her features, but one look at the cold detachment in her deep, dark eyes told of pain and weariness.

Her eyelid twitched, and she saw her eyes dampen. Angrily she shut them, swiping wildly to dry the tears oozing out. When she opened them, a vaguely familiar woman stood in her doorway.

"I don't need anything," she said. "Go away."

Her head snapped up as the woman channelled suddenly, shielding her from the Power and binding her with Air. A gateway opened behind her. The smiling impostor kicked her through, chair and all.

Kiara fell on her back upon the broken remains of her chair in a dark room. She felt her own blood soak the back of her dress. There was a bad gash in the middle of her back. She felt weaves of Air suspend her in mid-air.

"I will have fun with you, old friend," the Forsaken who had once been Nemene, her good friend, crooned softly.

Instantly, Kiara felt pain lance through her in steady, raking stabs. The pain intensified slowly to become agony. After that, no word had ever been created to describe the feeling. She bore it in silence, though her lip began to bleed from her biting it so hard, and blood trickled from where her nails had dug into the flesh of her palm. She could feel herself losing control.

Her heart seemed to explode in her chest. Her reserve cracked, and she threw her head back, letting out a soul-shattering scream. She wanted to black out, for her body to fail, but Semirhage would not let her.

Sammael, Lanfear and Asmodean were discussing their section of the assault on Paaran Disen when a scream reached their ears. They all knew that only one person could make someone scream like this. Semirhage.

The voice, tight with agony, echoed into their room again. "Why don't you just let me die, you—" It was squelched by apparently another wave of agony, as the recognisable words faded into a shriek.

"I think I …" both Sammael and Lanfear said simultaneously, then glared at each other and shut up.

"I think I know that voice," Asmodean murmured, taking it a step further. "I almost recognise it. Almost."

"I cannot believe I ever trusted you!" the voice of the one being tortured returned. The woman had a strong will. But Semirhage was an expert at breaking down wills. Another scream pierced the walls of the fortress on the slopes of Shayol Ghul. Sammael and Lanfear frowned.

Asmodean recognised the voice immediately. He had heard nearly the same words from the same lips once. He swore so obscenely that even Lanfear's usual cool, queenly composure was jarred.

"That's Kiara down there!" he told the other two tightly.

His eyes widened when Lanfear swore nearly as badly as he had. "Link," she said shortly. Her eyes blazed. A woman wove best against a woman, so he and Sammael allowed her to take control of their circle of three. In this, they could not waste time bickering.

Semirhage started when the door behind her was blown to bits, but hid it perfectly as she turned slowly. Lanfear's weave of Air landed a solid blow on her face, knocking her backwards. She staggered further as the weaves she had attached to Kiara Lisette Eronaile were severed with much force.

"Get her," Lanfear snapped at Asmodean, who was on her right. Sammael stood on her other side, glaring at Semirhage with open animosity. When Semirhage would have stopped him, another weave lashed out and swept her off her feet.

Asmodean returned to Lanfear's side with Kiara in his arms. "Touch my cousin again, you sadist vermin," the white-garbed female Chosen snarled, "and you will die a horrible death, whatever the Great Lord thinks."

"I have every right—"

Semirhage's protest was cut short by Sammael, "Be silent! You have no right. Take your misplaced anger out on another, or face the combined fury of us three, and probably Be'lal and Demandred as well."

She was silent. Facing five other Chosen was well beyond her ability. Lanfear slammed a shield between her and _saidar_, and she submitted. She would strike another time, when there was a chance. "That will dissipate in a few hours," her greatest rival snapped. "But do not try anything, or you will pay for it."

Kiara was awoken by a splitting headache. She did not open her eyes. They felt glued shut, anyway. She was lying on something delightfully soft and fragrant. A heather-stuffed mattress, probably.

"She's not waking," a voice she had hoped never to hear again said worriedly. The sound of Asmodean's voice made her want to weep. "It isn't natural."

"Has Semirhage done more damage than we thought?" another male voice asked, with almost the same amount of worry in his tone. She thought it was Tel Janin. Sammael. He had said "Semirhage" like one would say "manure".

"If she has, I will throttle her with my bare hands," Duram Laddel's—Be'lal's—voice growled aggressively.

"She is not worth using the Power on," agreed Barid Bel. No, Demandred. "I meant Semirhage." He made the name sound like "pond scum" without the pond.

"We'll see how calm that _woman_ is in nightmares tonight," a melodious voice added in a menacing whisper.

Kiara could not help herself. "Mierin?" she asked weakly. Her throat was terribly sore from the screaming.

Instantly all five rushed to her side. She felt Mierin—Lanfear—grab her hand anxiously. "Open your eyes, cousin," she urged. "Open them and tell us you aren't badly hurt. You could save Semirhage's life."

Kiara forced her eyelids apart. "Why would I want to?" she told Lanfear.

Her beautiful cousin smiled. "Back to your sarcastic, normal self again, I see," she said as she helped Kiara sit up and handed her a goblet of water.

She was further surprised when Be'lal hugged her. "Are you truly well, _adoren_?" he asked. The nickname meant "little sister" in Lireyya, with a strong implication of deep fondness.

"Never better," Kiara responded. She answered to Sammael and Demandred. For those few glorious moments she forgot how tired she was, how alone she always felt. Uncharacteristically, Asmodean hung back. She did not know why that hurt her. It was not supposed to.

"Joar—Addam—Nessosin," she forced the words out as he inched towards the door, "are you going to wait till I drop dead before you say a word to me? I had just been surprised, shielded, dragged from my study and tortured. Surely it merits some of your scant pity."

"I think I'll go and talk to Semirhage properly now," Lanfear announced. She got up. "Sammael, Demandred, Be'lal, come with me. Asmodean, stay in case she comes after Kiara before we find her." Without another word she hustled the other three men from the room.

"Well?" Kiara demanded.

"Well what?" Asmodean shot back.

"Are you just going to stare out of the window?"

"Yes."

"Isn't it boring?"

"No."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Helping to rescue me."

"You're welcome."

"Is that all you have to say to me?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure that is all you have to say to me?"

"What do you want me to say to you?"

"An apology might do nicely. In fact, it'd work wonders, with the state I am in right now."

"Really? I've seen enough wonders to last a lifetime."

"Why did you even bother helping rescue me from Semirhage?"

"What was I to do, let them tear me apart? It was survival."

"Do you mean that?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Completely."

"You're lying."

No reply. Kiara gave up trying to make conversation. His replies were either short or blunt, or both.

"I don't know why I bother. Inform the others. I'm out of here. Go and die in whichever way pleases you. I won't bother you again," she announced after a long silence. She stood up and made a gateway.

"Is that it?" it was Asmodean's turn to ask.

"Is what it?"

"You're just going to walk away."

"Yes, that's the gist of it."

"Why are we having this conversation?"

"You started it this time, not me!"

"What I meant was, why is this conversation so hostile?"

"How would I know? You're the one being hostile."

"What do you call how you're acting now?"

"Defensive," Kiara responded truthfully.

"What do you have to defend against?"

"You."

"If I break even a strand of hair on your head, I'll have four already-angry Chosen after me. No, thank you, much as I am tempted."

Kiara laughed in his face. "You hurt me more than Semirhage ever will."

"I don't hear you screaming."

"That's because I'm so used to it I've stopped screaming."

"Then hightail it out of here. See if I care."

"No."

Asmodean looked taken aback by her answer. He tried very hard to hide his surprise when she let the gateway behind her slide closed. He hid another expression behind a grimace—she dared not hope it was a smile. "Now I have to watch you like a sick child until they get back."

"I have a feeling they won't be back for a while," Kiara informed him curtly.

"Why is that?" he asked her, though she knew he knew.

"Don't turn this into another argument, Asmodean. I'm too tired to squabble with you," she sighed. Then she realised his eyes were riveted on a particular spot on her cheek. She realised that there was a tear trailing down her face when his gaze moved down slowly.

"I'm not crying. I must have yawned earlier. I—"

"Stop making excuses, Kiara," Asmodean cut her off. There was a most peculiar expression on his face, like he wanted to kill her and kiss her at the same time. "You are no good at it, either." A most peculiar expression.

"All right, so I'm crying. So what? I could be missing my parents for all you know," she retorted.

The expression on Asmodean's face changed. More kill, now. He let out a sound of extreme frustration and brushed past her as he headed for the exit. Her mind was decided the moment his arm touched hers. Her heart, of course, had made the decision a century ago.

Kiara curled her fingers around his wrist and held on, though there was not much physical strength left in her. Asmodean turned his head and looked at her hand like it was some mild irritant. He jerked lightly, trying to dislodge her grip. "Let go," he demanded when she clung on.

"Not unless you cut off my hand."

Asmodean attempted to shield her and hold her with Air, but she was ready, and slashed his weaves as quickly as he tried. The tension he put on his arm slackened as he reeled slightly from the backlash. She took the opportunity to pull him closer. With one twisting movement of his arm he wrenched his wrist from her grip.

"Suns," she gasped as she looked at her miraculously whole hand. "Who taught you that?" She shut up when an apparently furious Asmodean grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her away roughly. She stumbled and fell on her back. Even the soft mattress could not stop the twinge of pain from the gash between her shoulder blades. "Ouch."

He came down on top of her, pinning her down with his body weight. She felt the freshly formed scab crack. Warm blood began to run down her back. But he was kissing her, if a little roughly. If very roughly. She barely felt it.

A few seconds into the kiss, Asmodean was suddenly gone. Kiara sat up and abruptly became aware of the pain in her back. "You're bleeding," was all Asmodean could seem to say.

Kiara ignored the spreading blotch of red on the back of her dress. "It doesn't matter," she murmured. Her back stung as if to falsify this, and she winced. She took a step forward. Her vision swam.

She must have swayed, because Asmodean was in front of her in half a second, supporting her. She tipped her head back and he responded by kissing her. She smiled against his mouth and bit down on his lip, not hard enough to leave a lasting mark.

In two seconds she found herself back on the bed, being kissed down the sides of her neck. She lay still and let him do it. Blood was seeping into the clean sheets, but she did not care. The bleeding was stopping already, anyway.

Kiara twisted a hand into Asmodean's hair and halted his progress. Firmly but gently she pulled his head back so his dark eyes met hers. "I don't know how I can love you after all this, but I do."

"You know, if you leave that dress on too long, the blood will congeal and stick the fabric to your wound."

She stared, then smiled. "Well, then I'd better save myself some pain by getting it off."

He got up, crossed his arms and eyed her expectantly. Kiara smiled sweetly, reaching back for the buttons. She undid the first one.

"Get out, by the way," she ordered cheerfully.

Asmodean almost raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and left the room, softly shutting the door behind him. Kiara stared at the door. It was for the best, she supposed. How many times had she told herself that?

"Goodbye, then," Kiara murmured under her breath. She wove _saidar_, reversing the weave so it could not be detected even as she did so. A vertical slash appeared and widened into a gateway. She stepped through and let it close behind her. So she had friends. And a cousin. And a lover.


	12. The Rift

Thanks to Psyco Faerie for the support in my story…here's another chapter for you…:))

**Chapter 12: The Rift**

After the episode with the Forsaken, Kiara warded her study and chambers carefully. The cut on her back had been Restored, but the memory of the pain stabbed at her once every now and then.

It had been a week. She lay in her bed, unable to sleep. Asmodean would haunt her forever. With a sigh she rolled over to lie on her back.

Flaming eyes filled her vision. Stunned, she reached for _saidar_ only to find it slipping away whenever she touched it. The owner of the eyes began to talk to her. There were no words, only a series of … images that conveyed a message.

-You will be my loyal, unwavering servant-

-You will do what I tell you to-

-You will not channel unless I tell you to do so-

-You will not attempt to escape through any means-

-You will not resist-

Kiara wanted to tell the presence that it was being ridiculous, that she would never be anyone's servant, but all of a sudden the sentiments vanished, to be replaced by an eagerness to serve. And she was abruptly falling through an endless dark. Maniacal laughter filled her ears as the darkness invaded her consciousness.

Lanfear very nearly jumped when the gateway appeared a foot from her bed, and a severe-looking woman stepped through. A Dreadlord. She sat up, glaring. The Dreadlord hurriedly dipped a precise curtsy.

"The Great Master Ishamael wishes to see all of the Chosen in the Royal Palace of Mar Ruois, Great Mistress," she said meekly.

Lanfear stood. "Very well," she replied icily. "Tell Ishamael I'll be along in a few minutes. Be gone with you."

The Dreadlord gave another curtsy and vanished through a second gateway. Lanfear washed and dressed, wondering what the Betrayer of Hope wanted this time. He thought himself Nae'blis. He certainly bossed the other Chosen around enough. So it was Mar Ruois again. He probably wanted to get started with the siege of Paaran Disen. Overeager, by Lanfear's standards.

Carefully buckling a belt of fine silver links over her white dress, Lanfear made her own gateway. She stepped though into the council room in Mar Ruois. Ishamael stood at the head of the long, rectangular table.

The seat immediately to his right was empty. The other five seats on that side of the table were occupied by Aginor, Rahvin, Sammael, Demandred and Balthamel, in order of their closeness to Ishamael. On the other side, in the same order, sat Be'lal, Semirhage, Moghedien, Mesaana, Graendal and Asmodean. Lanfear took the vacant seat gracefully.

"You took long enough," Ishamael reprimanded her. She ignored him.

He gestured to the girl dressed in a cream-coloured dress, who had been standing in a corner of the room with her head bowed. She looked up and approached, spreading her skirts wide in a deep curtsy.

Lanfear's breath caught sharply, and heard four others echo her. The serving girl was Kiara. Kiara! Ishamael had used Compulsion on her—her eyes were blank and glazed. "Go and fetch the maps," Ishamael ordered.

Kiara curtsied again and left the room. Immediately Lanfear's hand slammed down hard on the table. The other Chosen jumped. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked angrily. She glared at Ishamael for a moment before glancing at the others.

Aginor looked confused. Rahvin's expression was blank. Sammael, Be'lal and Demandred had identical expressions of suppressed anger on their faces. Balthamel looked downright uneasy, but that was because Asmodean, who was sitting opposite him, was burning a hole though the wall behind Balthamel with the pure fury in his gaze. Seldom did Asmodean dare to show temper. Semirhage was smiling—she probably had a hand in this. Moghedien, Mesaana and Graendal were exchanging looks of puzzlement.

Ishamael smiled. "I have not damaged your precious cousin," he said calmly. "She has a web of surface Compulsion around her mind, tied quite firmly. Once it has been lifted I'm very sure she will return to her normal self. Of course, with the web still around her, she can be told to take her own life …"

Lanfear's gaze hardened. "Are you threatening me?"

Kiara entered the room where the Chosen were meeting with the maps in her arms. Curtsying without spreading her skirts, she laid them on the table in front of Ishamael. No one noticed her. Lanfear, Sammael, Be'lal and Demandred were on their feet. Asmodean was on the edge of his seat.

Suddenly, Asmodean slammed both hands on the table and stood as well. The four Chosen who had been arguing with Ishamael cut off short, gaping. "This isn't funny at all, Ishamael," he said in a low, angry voice. "Let her go. Now."

Kiara thought she saw open admiration in the gazes of some of the Chosen gathered there. Not in Ishamael's, though. His eyes blazed with anger at being challenged so blatantly, and by someone he considered very much beneath him, at that. A weave of Air invisible to her knocked Asmodean off his feet. Unbidden, a sudden wave of fury welled up in her, though she did not quite understand why.

The eyes of the female Chosen were drawn away from either Asmodean or Ishamael by Kiara, who was glowing like a small sun. Ishamael whirled around to look at her as well, his eyes wide as the web of Compulsion he had tied around her mind simply—there was no other word for it—shattered.

Everything came back to Kiara. Ishamael had used Compulsion on her. It only added to her rage. She felt someone trying to put a shield between her and _saidar_, and a quick glance around told her that it was Semirhage. Suddenly, the light of _saidar_ appeared around Lanfear, too, and the light around Semirhage winked out.

Kiara dropped, and a bar of balefire flew over the top of her head. She hit Ishamael with a weave of Air. The entire building began to shake—the balefire had punched through numerous walls.

All of a sudden, everyone was channelling, including Semirhage and Asmodean, who had picked himself up off the floor. Gateways appeared all over the room, and the Forsaken fled through them.

With a roar, Ishamael threw another balefire at Kiara. A gateway opened in front of her, and the balefire flew through it to wherever it led to. Someone grabbed Kiara by her wrist and pulled her through a second gateway. It snapped shut the moment she was through.

"Are you all right?" Asmodean asked as he turned her to face him. They were deep in the heart of a forest.

"Yes, I think so," Kiara replied, shaking the last dregs of the Compulsion off. She shuddered as they went away, tugging at her consciousness as they did. It was scary to think that Ishamael had gotten past her warding. She plucked at the silk of her dress. "This is the most disgusting colour ever," she declared. "Who wants to walk around wearing a dress the colour of tea with too much milk in it?"

Asmodean laughed, though it sounded a little strained. Kiara walked up to a tree and touched its trunk. It looked vaguely familiar. "Where are we?" she asked.

"The forest about a mile from Shorelle," he replied quietly. "I discovered this place when I was a boy."

Kiara's hand fell from the surface of the tree trunk. She channelled, and a small, sharp weave of Air cut a blossom from the tree's high branches. The simple white flower drifted down lazily, and she caught it in her hands.

"So this is where you got it from," she said.

"What?" Asmodean asked in confusion.

"You tried to give me a flower on the day I arrived at Shorelle with my family, remember?" she answered.

He looked hard at the pale flower in her hand. "Yes," he said. "I remember." Suddenly he was coughing, his hand pressed over his mouth. Kiara dropped the flower, startled. The coughing fit subsided, and Asmodean was bent over, the hand that had been over his mouth pressed to a nearby tree trunk for support. He let it fall away after a while.

As he straightened, Asmodean moved his body to block the trunk, but not before Kiara saw the red stain there. Without a word she slammed a shield between the man and _saidin_, at the same time sending a weave of Delving into his body. The pain she detected made her take one step back. There were four broken ribs, with one pressing into his lung. How he could even talk was beyond her.

"I am going to _balefire_ Ishamael," she hissed as she crossed the clearing to Restore Asmodean. He let her do so without a word. "Have a care I don't do it to you first. Trying to hide something like that, for the love of the Light!"

Asmodean brushed her hands off once the Restoring was done. He was upset over something. "How much do you remember of the time you spent under the influence of Compulsion?" he asked softly. Softly was how the tiger's paws padded just before it pounced.

"Almost nothing," Kiara replied. "Why?"

Asmodean touched a spot on her shoulder, near the end of her collarbone. She looked down, puzzled. And wished she had not. There, on her fair skin, was a bite mark. An unmistakeably human bite mark. It was red. Recent.

"Do you remember this?" he asked.

Kiara could not take her eyes off the mark, though looking hurt her neck muscles. After a long moment she forced herself to meet Asmodean's gaze. She flinched a little at the heat in them.

"No," she answered him truthfully.

"Try."

Some of the fiery temper that she had had as a girl came back to Kiara, and she took a firm step back from him, fists clenched at her sides. "No."

"Why? Are you afraid of what you might remember?" he asked. Heartlessly.

"And what is the point?" Kiara retorted, her voice raised. "And I don't remember anything."

"I just want to know what you let him do to you!" he exploded, icy façade shattering completely.

"What I _let _him do?" Kiara snapped. "That is _it_. I am _not_ talking to you until you start to make some sense." She turned her back on him, refusing to let the tears fall. There was nothing worth crying about.

The clearing was silent for a long time. Kiara turned back a fraction, just to look. Asmodean was gone. Disgusted, she made a gateway back to her chambers. Ilyena was there, looking frantic.

"What happened?" her friend asked the moment she stepped through. "You've been missing for three days."

Kiara looked at Ilyena's concerned expression and smiled wanly. "I just felt like getting a little breathing space. I'm sorry I just vanished, but … I was just going crazy. I had to … go."

Ilyena smiled understandingly. "Yes, of course. Lews Therin will be glad to know that you are back. And there is something disturbing going on. It seems that the Forsaken are gathering in an attempt to take us here at Paaran Disen," she said. "He needs all the powerful channelers up front and centre. And you're among the strongest that we have."

Kiara thought about it for a moment before nodding. "I don't really want to, but there are always things you have to do that you don't want to."


	13. Shattered Dreams

Okk…I messed up the last time..wrong document. Well here's the actual chap 13. enjoy!

**Chapter 13: Shattered Dreams**

The forces of the Shadow came within sight of Paaran Disen not three days later. Kiara was roused from her slumber in the wee hours of the morning by a frightened Aiel woman.

Five minutes later she arrived at the walls. Her jaw fell open at the sight of the army outside Paaran Disen. Someone announced the arrival of the First Among Servants. Kiara turned to face the approaching Lews Therin.

"Kiara Lisette Eronaile sees and acknowledges the First Among Servants," she said, dipping a curtsy.

Lews Therin nodded tightly. "This is bad."

"How many are there?" Kiara asked.

"About a million or so Trollocs, ten thousand Myrddraal, countless Friends of the Dark, some eight hundred Dreadlords and all thirteen of the Forsaken," Lews Therin replied. "Oh yes, and other assorted Shadowspawn."

"Blood and bloody ashes," Kiara swore.

"The forces are split equally into four groups, led by three or four of the Forsaken each. Ishamael, Asmodean and Semirhage are attacking from the north. Be'lal, Sammael and Demandred from the south, Mesaana, Moghedien and Graendal from the east, and Aginor, Balthamel, Lanfear and Rahvin from the west," Lews Therin went on gravely.

"I'll take the north," Kiara declared.

Lews Therin nodded after a visible hesitation. "I will take the east and west, and Ilyena will have the south." He turned away. She thought she heard, "Damn Latra Posae Decume."

A man came up with _Callandor_ and gave the crystal sword to Lews Therin. Kiara received _Cyrelaide _from a woman. She had not held the clear crystal staff since she retired from the fighting. It felt cold and hard under her hands. Like her.

Asmodean smouldered silently in the jo-car. He was sitting in front with the overawed Friend of the Dark who served as their driver. Ishamael and Semirhage were in the backseat.

He had no idea why the Great Lord had wanted him to attack the north with Ishamael and Semirhage. He was angry, but determined to keep it on a tight leash. Openly showing anger towards Ba'alzamon, Ishamael, would be possibly fatal, since the Great Lord had given him overall command over the attack on Paaran Disen.

A metal ball about the size of a man's head landed beside the jo-car and blew up, rocking the heavily armoured vehicle. Asmodean swore viciously, and heard Ishamael and even Semirhage echo him behind.

"Drive properly, burn you!" he snarled at the driver. The terrified Friend of the Dark jumped and hastened to obey.

Kiara stood atop the wall and watched the Shadowsworn army approach. She was channelling, a bare minimum of what she could actually hold with the help of _Cyrelaide_. The Choedan Kal could have helped them defeat the army without fail, but the areas were the access _ter'angreal_ were stored were currently held by the enemy.

"Fire one of those exploding things at the lead jo-car," she told a gunner. The man lifted a heavy metal ball the size of a human head onto the automatic catapult. It flew through the air, landed next to the jo-car and promptly exploded. Kiara could practically hear her teeth gnashing when the vehicle emerged from the smoke fumes apparently unharmed.

"Keep them on volley. The entire army," she ordered before drawing as much of _saidar_ as she could through her _sa'angreal_. The other Aes Sedai took their cue from her and began wreaking havoc among the Shadowspawn with the Power. Some worked alone, some linked. It did not matter so much here.

Kiara directed rings of flame at the lead jo-car. The driver swerved the thing sharply, avoiding the worst of the flames. The top of a tower above a group of linked Aes Sedai exploded without warning. The Dreadlords were fighting back.

Kiara's temper was frayed still, so who could blame her when she balefired the first knot of Dreadlords she spotted? She wove a Maelstrom and sent it pulsing through the army, knocking Shadowspawn and Shadowsworn down, reversing the weave so that the Dreadlords would not be able to learn it. A second Maelstrom blasted about ten Draghkar out of the sky.

The driver swerved in a sickeningly sharp curve when the rings of fire assaulted the jo-car. Asmodean grabbed on to whatever handhold he could find. Something invisible but powerful hit the side of the spinning jo-car, and it flipped over. The Friend of the Dark screamed.

"A Maelstrom!" Semirhage hissed. The lights in the jo-car shorted out, and the three Chosen were thrown into darkness. Asmodean put a hand out to push himself up from his crouched position. It came into contact with something soft, warm and _jellyfish_. It was surrounded by shards of something hard, smooth and damp. Abruptly he realised what he was touching.

"Blood and bloody ashes!" he yelped as he pulled his hand away quickly. "The flaming driver has a hole in his head. He's dead."

Something hit the roof of the jo-car with a loud crash. "What was that?" Semirhage asked. The woman, capable of remarkable calm during the worst moments, actually sounded panicky.

A second crash rocked the already damaged jo-car from side to side and dented the roof. "Draghkar," Ishamael muttered. "They're being blasted out of the sky by the same thing that damaged the jo-car. A Maelstrom, you say?"

Asmodean tried the door. It was wedged in place by the dented frame. He channelled and forced it open. Flames singed the ends of his hair. He channelled the door back into place.

"It isn't safe to go out there," Semirhage snapped, "and every fool should know that."

"Then we channel from in here," Ishamael ordered firmly. He touched a button and the blacked-out windscreen of the jo-car cleared. Flames raged around the jo-car outside, but gaps in the fire showed them parts of the city. "We aim through here."

Kiara saw the jo-car roll over with the impact of her Maelstrom and was glad. Two Draghkar fell successively onto the roof of the damaged vehicle, the second hit denting it. She engulfed the thing in flames.

One of the front doors of the jo-car started to open and was hastily slammed shut again. Kiara's _saidar_-enhanced vision let her see such small things. Hastily she pulled her attention away from the disabled jo-car to help with the rest of the battle. At the moment, they were winning. At the moment.

"It's getting … hot in here," Semirhage complained breathlessly. Another surprise, the sadistic woman _never_ whined.

Ishamael fanned himself, an action that made Asmodean's eyes widen. Sweat was running down his face, but he had not gone so far as the two of them yet. He was about to suffocate as well, though.

"I have an … idea," Asmodean said hesitantly.

"Spit it out," Ishamael snapped.

"We could make a gateway outside and use Air to push the jo-car through."

Ishamael and Semirhage stared at him as if he were crazy. Then both smiled in a way he did not like.

Asmodean felt Ishamael channel, and goosebumps rose on his arms, which meant that Semirhage had done so as well. A gateway appeared outside, and a weave of Air he could not see pushed the jo-car forward.

He paled when he saw where the gateway led to. They were in Paaran Disen, in the empty courtyard of the fortress.

"Semirhage, go and take out Kiara," Ishamael commanded after they all had extricated themselves from the mangled jo-car. "Asmodean, go after Ilyena. I will take care of Lews Therin myself."

Kiara fumed as the jo-car was pushed through the gateway by weaves of Air. A woman had done it. Semirhage. She had not made the gateway, though, so at least one of the male Forsaken with her had survived, too.

The forces of the Shadow were attempting to scale the walls with portable lifts, or bring them down with explosives and the One Power. Kiara had her hands full, too full to check where the Forsaken had fled to.

A Myrddraal and five Trollocs had managed to fight their way dangerously close to the main gate controls. Suddenly lunging forward, Kiara's concealed knives whirled from her sleeves as she slit the throat of the Dreadlord she had been having a Power battle with. He had never seen it coming.

The Trollocs were starting on the controls. If they got the gates open, the north side, and possibly the whole city, would be lost. They were outnumbered and outmatched. Trollocs were stronger than men physically.

Channelling, Kiara blew the Trollocs to bits with a Razor Wind and slammed the gates shut in the faces of the Shadowspawn that had started to charge forward at the gap with a weave of Air.

Kiara ducked as the Myrddraal swung its black sword at her. A deft slash with Air severed the sword hand of the creature. The sword flew through the air to embed itself in the chest of a Draghkar that was hovering over a few Aes Sedai. The flying Shadowspawn shrieked and fell from the sky, plummeting to the ground a hundred feet below.

The Myrddraal came at Kiara again, this time with a bleeding stump and a dagger as black as its sword had been. Kiara used Air to push it away before throwing the blade still in her hand. Its point skewered the spot on the Halfman's face where the left eye should have been.

The cry that ripped from the Myrddraal's throat was a horrible, keening wail that had many of the fighters nearby cringe even as they fought. Kiara ignored the sound as best she could, using a flow of Air to pull her knife out. It came out with a disgusting sucking sound. It drove into the back of the Myrddraal's remaining, flailing hand, cutting through all the tendons and rendering its grip useless. The black dagger clattered to the floor where it was promptly balefired.

Kiara wiped her stained knife on the coat of the Dreadlord she had killed with it earlier. The blade melted back into the black hilt and she slipped the weapon back up her sleeve.

She swayed a little on her feet. Even with the buffer of _Cyrelaide_, a _sa'angreal_, wielding that much of the Power was exhausting. Nevertheless, Kiara kept using it once she had recovered from the dizzy spell. It could not be helped.

Semirhage knew exactly how to find Kiara. By going straight towards the feeling of tremendous amounts of _saidar_ being wielded. The woman might be Aes Sedai, but she was terrifyingly strong. Semirhage would have to strike carefully.

Ishamael found the direction that would take him to Lews Therin. The amount of _saidin_ being used by the man was huge, and the resonance it gave off was like a beacon to any male channeler. He smiled as he took off in that direction, cutting down Aes Sedai right and left.

Asmodean saw a glow up ahead. Was it Lews Therin or Kiara? That was a stupid question. He could still feel the Power Lews Therin Telamon was wielding, and it was definitely not fifty feet away from him. It was Kiara and her staff _sa'angreal_ then.

Kiara was getting desperate. Her men were dying, but more Shadowspawn and Shadowsworn were scaling the walls every minute. If she did not do something drastic soon, she would lose the northern part of the city.

An idea struck her. She wondered if _Cyrelaide_ could stand up to the stress. It would have to. Gathering the last of her failing strength, she drew on _saidar_ through the crystal staff until it hurt, and drew more after that until she felt as if she was going to explode from the Power pulsing inside her.

First a wave of Scourge. It was a weave similar to that of Restoring, but does exactly the opposite, and was fine-tuned to affect only Shadowspawn. The Shadowsworn would have to be dealt with the conventional way.

_Cyrelaide_ felt hot in Kiara's hands and got even hotter as she prepared the weaves. She could not hold that much of the Power any longer. She let it go. Her _sa'angreal_ shattered in her hands, one shard clipping her on the temple, hard. Instead of invisible weaves worming their ways into the Shadowspawn, pure white light exploded from the spot where she stood.

Semirhage was shocked when the amount of _saidar_ being wielded almost doubled. Wielding that amount without the legendary Choedan Kal was near impossible. She would have said impossible if not for the proof in front of her. Kiara Lisette Eronaile was even stronger than her Chosen cousin Lanfear. Much stronger.

Then the explosion came, and bright white light engulfed Semirhage before she could react. Her screams tore from her throat of their own accord.

Asmodean was knocked over by a dying Friend of the Dark who was running around frantically, trying to find someone who would Restore his fatal abdominal wound. He sat up and tried to get to his feet.

That was when the bright white light rushed over him. There was no pain except in his eyes from the glare. Even clamping his eyelids shut did not help very much. As suddenly as it came, the light was gone after hovering in the air for about ten seconds.

Asmodean opened his eyes. He was sitting on a patch of white stone, and so were the other humans. The rest was blackened, and the horribly burnt forms of Shadowspawn littered the sooty floor.

His wonder ended abruptly when he saw the column of crystal standing where he had last seen Kiara. The stone was silver and sparkling in a three-foot radius around the column. Crystal shards of a different quality from the pillar littered the silvered floor area.

Semirhage picked herself up when she realised she was still alive and unhurt. All of the humans were, but the Shadowspawn on top of the northern city walls were dead, crisped to a cinder. She was absolutely terrified. She Travelled, making for the west. She had to find Ishamael.

Kiara was in _tel'aran'rhoid_. For some reason, she could not step out. She could not remember anything that had happened beyond _Cyrelaide_ shattering on her.

Then she realised. Her tie to her flesh and blood body was terribly weak. Her body was dying. If that happened, she would become part of the World of Dreams forever. She would be just another dream.

The fighting resumed between the humans on top of the wall, and efforts were made to stop more Shadowspawn from scaling the wall. Asmodean was blind to all that. He simply stared at that clear column. He could see Kiara frozen at the bottom. Channelling desperately, he drilled into the column with Air.

The clear crystal gave way and shattered, throwing huge shards of crystal and icy water everywhere. Kiara's form stood suspended for a moment more before it collapsed limply.

Asmodean rushed forward to catch her. The fighting continued in spite of the cold now hanging in the air. A red line suddenly appeared on Kiara's temple and began to bleed. Her body was as cold as ice, and she breathed so shallowly she might as well have not been breathing at all. Everything took on new meaning when blood trickled from a corner of her mouth, as well.

Kiara had overloaded herself with the Power, and it had torn her up inside. She would not live very much longer without Restoring.

In _tel'aran'rhoid_, Kiara fell to her knees, suddenly weakened. Her body had just deteriorated drastically. Her life in the flesh was hanging by a thin thread. Many had entered the World of Dreams on their deathbeds to live on in spite of their actual deaths, but Kiara had never so much as considered this. To live as a shadow of who she once had been had no meaning. She would have moved on. But she had no choice. She was trapped in the World of Dreams.

Asmodean carried Kiara's near-lifeless body to the warded area where pacifist Aes Sedai and Aiel channelers served as Restorers. An experienced Restorer took Kiara from him without looking at his face once.

He stayed, weaving a reversed Illusion to make himself look like an ordinary army officer. He had to see for himself that she would live.

Kiara found her way to _tel'aran'rhoid_'s Shorelle, in the Nessosin family's garden. She lay on the bench she had sat on with Joar Addam Nessosin more than a hundred years ago.

Her strength was waning. She would suffer like her body did until she died. Then she would be a ghost, a shadow. She would never feel anything again. The feeling of being ripped apart inside intensified. Her back arched as she fought the pain without uttering a single noise.

Something soothed the agony away then. Kiara sank back down with relief and puzzlement. A single tear fell from her eye. Was she dead then? Was that how it felt like? But she knew it could not be. She could feel her body still, and—was it possible?—stronger than before. Getting stronger.

Kiara sat up. It was back. Her body, her health, her life, everything. She tried stepping out of the World of Dreams. And she went, the mirror world fading away as she returned to her rescued flesh and blood body.

She opened her eyes back in the world she belonged to. Kiara saw concerned blue eyes. Ilyena's eyes. "Ilyena," she murmured. "How did everything go?"

Her friend hesitated. "We lost Paaran Disen," she said sadly. "Lews Therin beat Ishamael once before, two years ago, but this time … it seems that the Shadow had unleashed its full force against us. We are in M'Jinn, the last few cities we have left. What you did, though … it was a noble thing, and it saved many."

"But it didn't save the city," Kiara responded bitterly.

"Not the stone and the steel, but you saved the people," Ilyena argued.

The door to the bedchamber opened. Lews Therin Telamon stood in the doorway, eyes flashing. "We've decided to go on with the _cuendillar_ seals," he announced. "But without women, thanks to Latra Posae Decume."

Kiara fought back tears. She had nothing left, really. Her cousin and "brothers" were Forsaken, her lover was Forsaken _and _hated her. The city she had tried to defend was in the hands of the enemy.

"I'll go. I have not pledged to the Fateful Concord," Kiara said. Her voice was cool and brittle. Like her heart. Like her shattered dreams.


	14. The Sealing of the Bore

_Oops sorry about the Tel'aran'rhiod thingy … but there are so many mentions of it throughout the entire story, it'll be hell to change it, so please ignore the error!_

**Chapter 14: The Sealing of the Bore**

Kiara lay in bed, weeping with dry eyes. She had not eaten for two days, and no one could make her. Her tears had long since dried. She was depressed and sick at heart. She would leave for Shayol Ghul with the Hundred Companions. She did not intend to return with them.

Someone knocked on the door thrice. An Aiel entered, bowing. "It is time, Aes Sedai," he said. It was time for Kiara Lisette Eronaile to end her miserable existence.

Asmodean stood in the Pit of Doom, at the heart of Shayol Ghul, with the rest of the Forsaken. The Great Lord of the Dark had called for them, and they had come. He would speak to them soon and give them new orders.

Semirhage stepped close to him and whispered, "Ishamael never touched your precious girl. The mark was an Illusion. Don't you regret spurning her now? You can live on your regret forever—there is a slow poison in her system. She will die today, slowly and most painfully."

Asmodean would have struck out at her if they were not standing in the Great Lord's abode. He could not leave, and neither could he stay. He had to find Kiara, but he could not turn his back on the Great Lord. He was torn, and there was no way out.

The moment Lews Therin, Kiara, the Hundred Companions and the warriors they had brought along stepped through the gateway to Shayol Ghul, Trollocs, Myrddraal and Darkhounds attacked them.

Since _Cyrelaide_ had been destroyed, Kiara had to rely on her own strength to fight. It was enough. Suddenly, pain stabbed through her abdomen. A dim memory flashed through her mind. Semirhage's face as she fed Kiara some bitter liquid.

"The juice of the _berinjda _fruit for you, Kiara," the Forsaken had said. The juice of the _berinjda _fruit was a slow-acting poison that only took effect ten days from ingestion. Death would be drawn out over about a quarter of an hour. Her muscles would begin to bleed soon, rendering her unable to move. Her lungs would collapse. After that her brain would haemorrhage and shut down. Finally, her heart would beat so fast it burst. And she would die, feeling her insides being torn apart.

Kiara channelled, cutting herself a path to the entrance to the Pit of Doom. Reliable sources had told them that the thirteen Forsaken were gathered there this day. She remembered the three days she had spent under Compulsion clearly now. Ishamael had never touched her. The mark on her shoulder had been an Illusion. She could even remember seeing it being woven.

She stumbled through the narrow, rocky passageways, her fingers and toes already immobile. They seemed to be burning from the inside. She did not have much time. The end of the passage loomed ahead. Her legs gave way, and she fell onto the rough rock, crying for Asmodean. She had to see him one last time.

Lanfear, Sammael, Be'lal, Demandred and Asmodean looked up in shock when a voice all five of them knew sounded from just outside the chamber they were gathered in. They rushed out.

"Kiara!" they cried in unison when they saw her on the ground, pushing her torso up with both arms. Her face was pale.

"She is poisoned with _berinjda_," Semirhage said from the archway. "Even the best Restorer cannot save her."

Sammael, Be'lal and Demandred surged forward, but Lanfear held out an arm, stopping them. There were tears shimmering in her eyes, but her voice was steady. "Let her talk to Asmodean."

Asmodean was by Kiara's side in a blink of an eye, holding her as all the muscles in her body stopped functioning. She could still talk, but she had little time left. "Nothing happened …" she murmured weakly.

His grip on her tightened momentarily. "I know. I am sorry."

Kiara smiled as far as the pain would allow her to. Her lungs were starting to bail—her breathing was becoming laboured. "If there comes a way for you to turn back in future, take it," she said.

Asmodean nodded, feeling his heart being torn up like her body was, sharing her pain. In a few minutes, he would lose her. And he knew she did not want to exist simply in _tel'aran'rhoid_. He would not ask her to do it.

Kiara vaguely felt tears trickling from her eyes. She could barely breathe. She had to get it all out now. "Don't forget me," she whispered. "I love you." She did not hear his reply. Her lungs went under completely, and she could no longer breathe.

Agony exploded in her head. She fixed her eyes on Asmodean's face. _I will see you again, someday. Please … remember me …_

Her brain shut down, and everything went black as her heartbeat began to accelerate. The last thing she felt was Asmodean's kiss.

Asmodean's expression was blank as he held Kiara close, touching his lips to hers briefly. She was no longer conscious. He felt her heartbeat grow faster and faster until it suddenly stopped. The only woman he had loved, still loved, and would ever love, was dead. He swore that his music would be forever sad.

There was some kind of commotion outside. Asmodean's eyes misted, and he barely noticed Aginor and Balthamel picking their way past to investigate. The weight of the harpcase against his back was his only comfort. Kiara had given it to him.

Then time seemed to stop, and a stillness settled over the entire area. The last thing Asmodean remembered was hugging Kiara closer before the dreamless sleep took him into its depths.

The Bore was sealed.


End file.
